Field experiment

A controlled investigation conducted in a natural or real-world setting. Researchers manipulate one or more factors and measure outcomes while conditions remain less controlled than in a laboratory.

Randomized controlled trial: An experiment that assigns participants or units to interventions by chance to estimate causal effects. Field experiments often use random assignment to compare interventions under real-world conditions.
Independent variable: A factor deliberately varied to assess its effect on an outcome. It specifies what researchers change in the field.
Field experiment in economics: An economic experiment that tests behavior or policy interventions in real-world settings. Economists use field interventions to study choices beyond laboratory tasks.
Laboratory experiment: A controlled investigation conducted in a purpose-built or highly managed setting. It offers tighter control than a field experiment, often at the cost of realism.
Informed consent: Voluntary agreement to participate after receiving relevant information about a study. Field interventions must address consent when people are directly recruited or affected.
Random assignment: A procedure that allocates experimental units to conditions by chance. It helps make treatment groups comparable before a field intervention begins.
Dependent variable: A measured outcome that may respond to changes in an experimental factor. Its measurement captures the consequences of the field intervention.
Randomized controlled trial in education: An education study that randomly assigns learners or institutions to instructional conditions. Schools provide real settings for testing teaching methods and education policies.
Natural experiment: An observational study that uses an external event or rule to approximate random assignment. Researchers do not deliberately assign the intervention, unlike in a field experiment.
Research ethics: Principles and practices governing responsible research involving people, animals, or sensitive data. Interventions in everyday settings can affect people who did not expect to be studied.

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