ABSTRACT
Researchers in education fi nance and policy rely on a myriad of quantitative methods. The most common include regression analysis, a mainstay of social science research, but they increasingly include experimental or quasi-experimental methods (McEwan & McEwan, 2003; Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002). These methods are particularly suited to addressing research questions about the causal relationship between a policy or program and education outcomes.1 Do school fi nance reforms increase the equity of school expenditures? Does attending a private instead of a public school improve students’ achievement? Does fi nancial aid increase the probability that students attend college? This chapter describes a range of quantitative methods that can be used to address causal questions, placing special emphasis on the methods’ rationale, intuition, and pitfalls.
