Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

This module offers an engaging introduction to experimental methods, focusing on their application to political behaviour and public policy. The module will discuss the applications of experimental research to topics related to the use of social media during electoral campaigns, poverty alleviation, programmes to motivate people to receive jabs, etc.

Students will explore the way experiments can reveal insights into why people make certain political choices, how opinions are formed, and the impact of policies on behaviour. The module provides a hands-on experimental approach to the study of policy and behavioural topics in politics.

The module emphasizes practical skills and real-world applications, showcasing how experimental methods are used in political research, policy evaluation, and beyond. By the end of the module, students will gain valuable analytical and critical thinking skills highly sought after in today’s job market.

Outline Of Syllabus

1) Introduction
2) Cracking Causality: The Multiverse Approach
3) How to go about experimenting?
4) Randomization & Power: The Secret Sauces of Experiments
5) Ethics: the limits to research
6) Laboratory experiments & prejudice
7) Survey experiments & attitudes
8) Field experiments & policies
9) Lab-in-the-field experiments & policies
10) Multiple treatments, implementing and analysing
11) Discussion of projects

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

1. Understand the experiment logic: Master the logic behind experiments and discover how they fuel evidence-based policies and strategies that make a real-world impact.
2. Sharpen your research toolkit: Build hands-on skills in designing, conducting, and analysing experiments like an expert.
3. Unravel the relationship of cause and effect: Develop a deep understanding of causal relationships and learn to separate correlation from true causation.
4. Evaluate potential policies: Learn how to design an evaluation of a potential policy to improve people's lives.
5. Understand and conduct ethical research: Explore the ethical dilemmas of studying political behaviour and policies while designing experiments. Learn to make responsible, informed and ethical decisions.

Intended Skill Outcomes

1) Ability to develop a research question and an appropriate research design to investigate the question using experimental methods.
2) Improve writing and analytical skills through both an research plan and a research proposal, as well as in-class participation
2) Enhance the ability to synthesize theories and information as well as presentation skills through in-class organisation and presentation.
3) Improve critical thinking through discussion of different theories and methods in class, as well as by conducting peer-evaluation of the research plan.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures are essential to explain and discuss the experimental methods and their applications. In addition to the lecturer’s extensive knowledge and research into the subjects studied, the lectures rely on use of PowerPoint slides as well as multi-media to provide students with examples and help them understand the readings and topics.

The small discussion seminars will allow students to reinforce the knowledge acquired through the readings and lectures, as students will work on practical examples every week putting the knowledge into practice. Moreover, the seminars are a great opportunity to develop students' critical skills by working with each other to create activities to help other students learn better the topics discussed. Students enjoyed the seminar sessions and their structure and have told colleagues in GPS about it. Finally, the end-of-module assessment surgery will support students learning process and development of their own experimental design.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

1) The professional skills assessment provides motivation to students to come to seminars well-prepared and ready to engage with the material and with each other. In case students cannot attend the seminar, they will be able to submit on three occasions critical summaries of the readings assigned for that week to avoid losing points related to this assessment. I have received positive feedback from students regarding this assessment, as it motivates students to attend seminars systematically creating a stable learning community. Colleagues from GPS (i.e., Professor Catharine Degnen, Dr Jemima Repo) have asked for my module guide to learn about this assessment as students have told them that it works well for them.

2) The research plan will provide time and space for students to plan how to develop the research question they choose for the final research proposal as well as the sources they will use to do so. I use this assessment to motivate students to engage with the final assessment from the beginning of the semester, meet with me to receive guidance and feedback. I also provide extensive feedback to the plans they submit.

3) Students will engage in peer-review of the plan in order to assimilate better the research proposal requirements and think about how to improve their own work while giving other students feedback. Students have given me positive feedback regarding this activity as they actively learn how to evaluate other's and their own work.

4) The research proposal will help students develop their written skills while improving their critical thinking and writing abilities building on from the research plan.

As a whole, the tasks will enable students to end the module with a good understanding of concepts and practical applications of experimental methods. Moreover, having a variety of assessments speaks directly to the evidence that students have different areas of strength and that they can perform better on some of them. Thus, these assessments provide opportunities to compensate for weaknesses in some evaluative areas, while improving their critical, analytical and written abilities. Finally, I have received positive feedback from students who appreciate having the final mark broken down in different assessments.

General Notes

N/A