Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Department
Political Science
Language
English
Publication Title
American Politics Research
Abstract
Is grading polarized in political science classrooms? We offer experimental
evidence that suggests it is not. Many have argued that instructors’ grading
in political science classrooms is skewed by the political characteristics of
the instructor, the student, or an interaction between the two. Yet the
evaluations of whether such biases exist has been asserted and denied with
little evidence—even though prominent theories in political science suggest
that the charge is not entirely implausible. Using a set of anonymous essays
by undergraduates graded by teaching assistants at a variety of institutions,
we test for the presence of bias in a framework that avoids the usual
selection bias issues that confound attempts at inference. After evaluating
the evidence carefully, we find that the evidence for bias is much weaker
than activists claim.
DOI
10.1177/1532673X14561655
Recommended Citation
Musgrave, Paul and Rom, Mark, "Fair and Balanced? Experimental Evidence on Partisan Bias in Grading" (2014). Dickinson College Faculty Publications. Paper 78.
https://scholar.dickinson.edu/faculty_publications/78
Comments
Published as:
Musgrave, Paul and Mark Rom. "Fair and Balanced? Experimental Evidence on Partisan Bias in Grading." American Politics Research (Article published online December 31, 2014). doi:10.1177/1532673X14561655
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