A paper by Emily Oster of Harvard University, published in the Social Science Research Network's electronic library in 2004, explored the "possibility that the witchcraft trials [between 1520 and 1770] are a large-scale example of violence and scapegoating prompted by a deterioration in economic conditions. In this case, the downturn was brought on by a decrease in temperature and resulting food shortages. [. . .] Witches became target for blame because there was an existing cultural framework that both allowed their persecution and suggested that they could control the weather."6 Would the relationship between witchcraft trials and weather be examined via a sample survey, an observational study, or an experiment?