Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences

Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences
Author: Thad Dunning
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 379
Release: 2012-09-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1107017661

The first comprehensive guide to natural experiments, providing an ideal introduction for scholars and students.

Nature, Experiment, and the Sciences

Nature, Experiment, and the Sciences
Author: Trevor H. Levere
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 940091878X

This collection of essays is a tribute to Stillman Drake by some of his friends and colleagues, and by others on whom his work has had a formative influence. It is difficult to know him without succumbing to his combination of discipline and enthusiasm, even in fields remote from Renaissance physics and natural philosophy; and so he should not be surprised in this volume to see emphases and methods congenial to him, even on topics as remote as Darwin or the chemical revolution. Therein lies whatever unity the discerning reader may find in this book, beyond the natural focus and coherence of the largest section, on Galileo, and the final section on Drake's collection of books, a major and now accessible resource for research in the field that he has made his own. We have chosen, as the occasion for presenting the volume to Stillman Drake, Galileo's birthday; Galileo has had more than one birthday party in Toronto since Drake came to the University of Toronto. As for the title, it reflects a shared conviction that experiment is the key to science; it is what scientists do. Drake has already asserted that emphasis in the title of his magisterial Galileo at Work, and we echo it here. Those who have had the privilege and pleasure of working and arguing with Stillman over the years know his tenacity, penetration, and vigour. They also know his generosity and humility. We owe him much.

The Laboratory of the Mind

The Laboratory of the Mind
Author: James Robert Brown
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2005-09-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1134865791

Thought experiments are performed in the laboratory of the mind. Beyond this metaphor it is difficult to say just what these remarkable devices for investigating nature are or how they work. Though most scientists and philosophers would admit their great importance, there has been very little serious study of them. This volume is the first book-length investigation of thought experiments. Starting with Galileo's argument on falling bodies, Brown describes numerous examples of the most influential thought experiments from the history of science. Following this introduction to the subject, some substantial and provocative claims are made, the principle being that some thought experiments should be understood in the same way that platonists understand mathematical activity: as an intellectual grasp of an independently existing abstract realm. With its clarity of style and structure, The Laboratory of the Mind will find readers among all philosophers of science as well as scientists who have puzzled over how thought experiments work.

Advances in Experimental Political Science

Advances in Experimental Political Science
Author: James N. Druckman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 671
Release: 2021-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108478506

Novel collection of essays addressing contemporary trends in political science, covering a broad array of methodological and substantive topics.

Experimental Political Science and the Study of Causality

Experimental Political Science and the Study of Causality
Author: Rebecca B. Morton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 607
Release: 2010-08-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139490532

Increasingly, political scientists use the term 'experiment' or 'experimental' to describe their empirical research. One of the primary reasons for doing so is the advantage of experiments in establishing causal inferences. In this book, Rebecca B. Morton and Kenneth C. Williams discuss in detail how experiments and experimental reasoning with observational data can help researchers determine causality. They explore how control and random assignment mechanisms work, examining both the Rubin causal model and the formal theory approaches to causality. They also cover general topics in experimentation such as the history of experimentation in political science; internal and external validity of experimental research; types of experiments - field, laboratory, virtual, and survey - and how to choose, recruit, and motivate subjects in experiments. They investigate ethical issues in experimentation, the process of securing approval from institutional review boards for human subject research, and the use of deception in experimentation.

Teaching Children Science

Teaching Children Science
Author: Sally Gregory Kohlstedt
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2010-05-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0226449920

In the early twentieth century, a curriculum known as nature study flourished in major city school systems, streetcar suburbs, small towns, and even rural one-room schools. This object-based approach to learning about the natural world marked the first systematic attempt to introduce science into elementary education, and it came at a time when institutions such as zoos, botanical gardens, natural history museums, and national parks were promoting the idea that direct knowledge of nature would benefit an increasingly urban and industrial nation. The definitive history of this once pervasive nature study movement, TeachingChildren Science emphasizes the scientific, pedagogical, and social incentives that encouraged primarily women teachers to explore nature in and beyond their classrooms. Sally Gregory Kohlstedt brings to vivid life the instructors and reformers who advanced nature study through on-campus schools, summer programs, textbooks, and public speaking. Within a generation, this highly successful hands-on approach migrated beyond public schools into summer camps, afterschool activities, and the scouting movement. Although the rich diversity of nature study classes eventually lost ground to increasingly standardized curricula, Kohlstedt locates its legacy in the living plants and animals in classrooms and environmental field trips that remain central parts of science education today.

The Uses of Experiment

The Uses of Experiment
Author: David Gooding
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 504
Release: 1989-05-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521337687

Renowned scholars in history, sociology, philosophy and anthropology consider seventeenth and twentieth century weapon testing, particle physics, biology and other topics in an account of important and often famous experiments.

Design of Experiments for Agriculture and the Natural Sciences

Design of Experiments for Agriculture and the Natural Sciences
Author: Reza Hoshmand
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2018-10-03
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1420010646

Written to meet the needs of both students and applied researchers, Design of Experiments for Agriculture and the Natural Sciences, Second Edition serves as an introductory guide to experimental design and analysis. Like the popular original, this thorough text provides an understanding of the logical underpinnings of design and analysis by selecting and discussing only those carefully chosen designs that offer the greatest utility. However, it improves on the first edition by adhering to a step-by-step process that greatly improves accessibility and understanding. Real problems from different areas of agriculture and science are presented throughout to show how practical issues of design and analysis are best handled. Completely revised to greatly enhance readability, this new edition includes: A new chapter on covariance analysis to help readers reduce errors, while enhancing their ability to examine covariances among selected variables Expanded material on multiple regression and variance analysis Additional examples, problems, and case studies A step-by-step Minitab® guide to help with data analysis Intended for those in the agriculture, environmental, and natural science fields as well as statisticians, this text requires no previous exposure to analysis of variance, although some familiarity with basic statistical fundamentals is assumed. In keeping with the book's practical orientation, numerous workable problems are presented throughout to reinforce the reader's ability to creatively apply the principles and concepts in any given situation.

Simple Nature Experiments with Everyday Materials

Simple Nature Experiments with Everyday Materials
Author: Anthony D. Fredericks
Publisher: Sterling Publishing (NY)
Total Pages: 136
Release: 1995
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN:

Simple experiments demonstrate environmental concepts such as erosion, aeration, and animal camouflage.