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      Are Survey Experiments Externally Valid?

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      American Political Science Review
      Cambridge University Press (CUP)

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          Abstract

          Researchers use survey experiments to establish causal effects in descriptively representative samples, but concerns remain regarding the strength of the stimuli and the lack of realism in experimental settings. We explore these issues by comparing three national survey experiments on Medicare and immigration with contemporaneous natural experiments on the same topics. The survey experiments reveal that providing information increases political knowledge and alters attitudes. In contrast, two real-world government announcements had no discernable effects, except among people who were exposed to the same facts publicized in the mass media. Even among this exposed subsample, treatment effects were smaller and sometimes pointed in the opposite direction. Methodologically, our results suggest the need for caution when extrapolating from survey experiments. Substantively, we find that many citizens are able to recall factual information appearing in the news but may not adjust their beliefs and opinions in response to this information.

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          Most cited references9

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          Talking Together

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            Interpreting and Using Regression

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              The Total Survey Error Approach

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                applab
                American Political Science Review
                Am Polit Sci Rev
                Cambridge University Press (CUP)
                0003-0554
                1537-5943
                May 2010
                May 2010
                : 104
                : 02
                : 226-242
                Article
                10.1017/S0003055410000092
                1708fa7b-c1e4-4cfc-b486-ea9c07b359de
                © 2010
                History

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