ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Researchers in education fi nance and policy rely on a myriad of quantitative methods. Th e most common include regression analysis, a mainstay of social science research, but they also include experimental and quasi-experimental methods (Murnane & Willett, 2011; Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002). Th ese 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? Th is chapter describes a range of quantitative methods that can be used to address causal questions, placing special emphasis on each method’s rationale, intuition, and pitfalls.
