By the end of this chapter, you will be able to do the following:

4.1 Assess how research planning addresses critical challenges you will face as a social and behavioral science researcher.

4.2 Plan relevant research to reduce science-practice and micro-macro gaps in social and behavioral science.

4.3 Design studies that strengthen causal inference.

4.4 Judiciously implement different procedures for strengthening causal inference in your studies (i.e., counterfactual thinking, matching, control variables, instrumental variables, and quasi-experiments).

4.5 Manage the internal versus external validity tradeoff in your research.

4.6 Judiciously implement methodological tools for managing the internal versus external validity tradeoff (i.e., experience sampling methodology, eLancing, virtual reality).

4.7 Appraise the appropriate use of control variables in your empirical work.

4.8 Formulate your research in a way that follows all required steps in the statistical control process, including when you draft your manuscript.