Abstraction In Experimental Design Testing The Tradeoffs Ryan Brutger Joshua D Kertzer Jonathan Renshon Chagai M Weiss by Ryan Brutger & Joshua D. Kertzer & Jonathan Renshon & Chagai M. Weiss 9781108999533, 1108999530 instant download after payment.

Political scientists designing experiments often face the question of
how abstract or detailed their experimental stimuli should be.
Typically, this question is framed in terms of tradeoffs relating to
experimental control and generalizability: the more context introduced
into studies, the less control, and the more difficulty generalizing the
results. Yet, we have reason to question this tradeoff, and there is
relatively little systematic evidence to rely on when calibrating the
degree of abstraction in studies. We make two contributions. First, we
provide a theoretical framework which identifies and considers the
consequences of three dimensions of abstraction in experimental design:
situational hypotheticality, actor identity, and contextual detail.
Second, we field a range of survey experiments, varying these levels of
abstraction. We find that situational hypotheticality does not
substantively change experimental results, but increased contextual
detail dampens treatment effects and the salience of actor identities
moderates results in specific situations.