Version: 19 February 2014 Doing Experiments in Public Management Research: A Practical Guide Authors: Caroline Baethge,Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, University of Passau, Germany (email:
[email protected]) Jens Blom-Hansen, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Denmark (email:
[email protected]) Martin Bækgaard, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Denmark (email:
[email protected]) Claire A. Dunlop, Department of Politics, University of Exeter, UK (email:
[email protected]) Marc Esteve, School of Public Policy, University College London, UK (email:
[email protected]) Morten Jakobsen, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Denmark (email:
[email protected]) Brian Kisida, Department of Education Reform, University of Arkansas, USA (email:
[email protected]) John D. Marvel, Department of Public & International Affairs, George Mason University, USA (email:
[email protected]) Alice Moseley, Department of Politics, University of Exeter, UK (email:
[email protected]) Søren Serritzlew, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Denmark (email:
[email protected]) Patrick A. Stewart, Department of Political Science, University of Arkansas, USA (email:
[email protected]) Mette Kjærgaard Thomsen, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Denmark (email:
[email protected]) Patrick J. Wolf, Department of Education Reform, University of Arkansas, USA (email:
[email protected]) 1 Doing Experiments in Public Management Research: A Practical Guide Introduction Observational data are routinely used in both quantitative and qualitative public management research. They can be used to study a broad range of research questions. However, it is often challenging to draw causal conclusions from studies of observational data.