VII—Internal and External Validity in Thought Experiments

Internal and External Validity in Economics Research: Trade-offs between Experiments, Field Experiments, Natural Experiments a

In the realm of empirical research, investigators are first and foremost concerned with the validity of their results, but validity is a multi-dimensional ideal. In this article we discuss two key dimensions of validity – internal and external validity – and underscore the natural tension that arises in choosing a research approach to maximize both types of validity. We propose that the most co...

External Validity of "Trivial" Experiments: The Case of Laboratory Aggression

The external validi ty o f artificial " t r iv ia l" laboratory set t ings is examined . Past v iews e m p h a s i z i n g general izabi l i ty o f relat ions a m o n g conceptua l var iables are rev iewed and affirmed. One major impl icat ion o f typical cha l lenges to the external validity o f laboratory research is tested with aggress ion research: If laboratory research is low in external ...

On Possibilities and Thought Experiments∗

This paper concerns two related recent books by Nicholas Rescher, Imagining Irreality on possibilities and What If? on thought experiments—see [23] and [24]. The books are related because a theory on thought experiments presupposes a theory on possibilities. The effect of this and of the fact that they have a wider range of application than thought experiments will be that possibilities will re...

Actual Causes and Thought Experiments

Four theories proposing determinate relations of actual causation for Boolean networks are described and applied to 16 cases. All four theories are founded on the idea that actual causation is based on results that appropriate experimental interventions would produce. They differ in their accounts of the relevant kinds of experimental interventions. The more complex theories are motivated by tr...

Thought Experiments in Biology preprint