PhD course on RCTs in the Social Sciences

One of the world's foremost randomized controlled trial experts, Professor Eric Bettinger, will be back in Stavanger in the fall to teach a course on RCTs in the Social Sciences.

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Course Dates: September 09th -13th (Application deadline August 9th)

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–We are very glad that Eric Bettinger will return to Stavanger to teach the PhD course on RCTs in the Social Sciences, says assistant professor Simone Häckl-Schermer who is teaching the course with him.

Randomized experiments have become increasingly popular and prevalent in social science research. The US Department of Education has labeled randomized experiments as «the gold standard» in educational research. This course aimed to provide future researchers with the tools to plan and conduct randomized experiments.

Would recommend it to others

Professor Eric Bettinger is one of the foremost experts on conducting RCTs in the social sciences, and he has been recognized for outstanding teaching multiple times. Bettinger has conducted over 50 RCTs, and his rigorous research has impacted education policies worldwide.

– It is amazing to have Eric Bettinger giving a course here at UiS! Eric is a leading expert in RCTs and has a great way of sharing his insights with the students. It is also an excellent opportunity for students from different Universities across Europe to build networks with other students with similar interests, says course coordinator Simone Häckl-Schermer, who teaches the course along with Bettinger.

In 2022, PhD students from, among others, NHH, Oxford, MPI Bonn and WU Vienna participated in the course. The anonymous course evaluation at the end of class showed that the students were very content with the course:

– I was recommended this course and will recommend it to others. The lecturers were excellent, and the students made it a joint education production between lecturers and students.

– It was beneficial that the input was so real-life/project-oriented, and we could contribute to our projects and ask specific questions.