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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBVrJMiu41o
This YouTube video is a useful source for understanding issues of internal and external validity in research findings. It briefly outlines the main tenets of each, as well what affects them. It discusses how information bias, selection bias, and potential cofounders may affect the internal validity of the experiment, and how description and selection bias affect the external validity of the experiment.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/experimental-method.html
This article outlines the different types of experiment (laboratory, field, and natural), and gives definitions for key terms in experimental research.
https://sites.duke.edu/niou/files/2012/04/McDermott_Experiments_2002.pdf
This essay by Rose McDermott, now Professor of International Relations at Brown University, reviews experimental methods in Political Science. It explains what experimentation is, highlights important aspects of experimental design, and discusses threats to internal and external validity. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of experiments, the ethical guidelines that researchers should follow in conducting experiments and finally ends by providing an overview of the use of experiments in or relevant to political science.
http://marcfbellemare.com/wordpress/6090
This blog post by Marc Bellemare, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, summarizes the main findings of two articles written on the use of experiments in political science, both of which address the challenges this research method poses.
http://imai.princeton.edu/research/files/listExamples.pdf
This source provides a list and brief description of studies that have used experimental designs to investigate topics such as prejudice towards minority groups, elections and voting, attitudes about food, and certain behaviours.
This newspaper article by Macartan Humphreys, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, discusses ways of making field experiments more ethical, following the scandal over a field experiment that had been carried out in Montana. It argues that researchers should consider the following four issues: the agency of the researcher, the consent of their participants, any potential harms to people, and whether the possible harms outweigh the benefits of the experiment.
https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/internal-vs-external-validity/
This article defines internal and external validity and discusses the trade-offs involved in designing experimental research. It also outlines threats to internal and external validity.
https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_326708_smxx.pdf
Guidelines from the British Psychological Society on ethics in research with human participants. Experimental research is used regularly in psychology, raising questions about when/if it is ethical to not disclose the exact purpose of the study or to manipulate participants in order to obtain valid research results. These questions are also relevant in political research.
https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/page.cfm?pageid=1368&guideid=64
A comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of experimental research from The Writing Studio at Colorado State University.