Experiments in Political Science: perspective taking, proposals, and how experiments contribute to political research.

摘要

This thesis is broken into three parts. First, a study of perspective taking is presented. Employing an experimental approach, this study (Study 1) attempts to examine whether the cognitive mechanism of "perspective taking" can make participants' attitudes toward opposing political groups and viewpoints more positive, and make political ideology and stances on fiscal and social issues more moderate. Second, two proposals enhancing the original design are put forward, incorporating some of the lessons learned during Study 1. The third section discusses experiments and their contributions to political science. While they are not presented as the ultimate method within the diverse methodological toolbox in political science, this thesis does contend that some previous notions regarding experiments within the discipline are misguided.