14.11: Putting Social Science to the Test—Field Experiments in Economics by Mitra L. '07

One of the economics electives I have signed up for is 14.11: Putting Social Science to the Test – Field Experiments in Economics. From what I hear, this class was just created this year, and this is the first semester it’s being offered. I think the website is enrollee-only, so here’s some information on what we’re going to study:

What is 14.11?
14.11 is a new class on the topic of field (that is, “in situ”) and laboratory experiments in the social sciences — both what these experiments have taught and can teach us and how to conduct them.
The class has three major components:

1. In lecture, we will discuss (and you will read research papers on) 12 major substantive topics addressed by experimental social science, including: race discrimination, gender differences in behavior, persuasion, corruption and voting. (See the syllabus on this site for a complete list).

2. Each lecture will also cover methodological topics that will aid you in designing, conducting, analyzing and presenting a field or laboratory experiment.

3. You, the student, will conduct an original experimental study (i.e., not only library or Google research) with human subjects. There will be a number of structured assignments and milestones leading to the planning, execution, write-up and presentation of this research.

List of topics:
1. Race discrimination
2. Gender differences in economic environments
3. Improving educational outcomes
4. Incentives
5. Intrinsic motivation and fairness
6. Commitment and self-control
7. Learning and social effects
8. Jury/advocacy
9. Housing experiments
10. Voting behavior and political economy
11. Public health and persuasion
12. Corruption/incentives

I am SO excited for this class!