Deliberation and Experimental Design

This chapter describes the methodological considerations necessary for making a causal inference regarding the effect of institutions and group contexts on deliberation. This chapter focuses on the elements of the research design of a study and the assumptions that are necessary to state a causal inference given a particular design; these considerations are applicable to randomized experimental designs, both in the lab and in the field, as well as to quasi-experimental or natural experimental designs using observational data. The chapter shows how to assess the internal validity of a study for identifying a causal effect for a given study and briefly discusses external and epistemic validity considerations that are of particular urgency for empirical deliberation.