What is meant by "field experiment"?

A field experiment refers to research conducted in a real-world setting outside of a laboratory or controlled environment. This approach allows researchers to observe behaviors and interactions as they occur naturally, providing a more authentic context for understanding the phenomena being studied. Field experiments are particularly valuable in criminal justice research because they enable the examination of how interventions or policies perform in actual community settings, rather than in artificial conditions where participant behavior might differ significantly.

This method can yield insights that are more applicable to real-life situations, as the variables involved often interact in complex and unpredictable ways in the field. By contrast, laboratory-based studies and controlled environment experiments may limit the external validity of findings, meaning they may not effectively translate to everyday contexts. Similarly, an experiment that relies solely on survey methods lacks the dynamic observation that field experiments offer, potentially resulting in missed opportunities to capture how individuals behave in practice.