Field Experiments

Question 1

Definition

Answer 1

Constructed in real world under normal social conditions

Question 2

Is it practical

Answer 2

Moderately

Good -More practical than lab experiments in studying real-world behaviour.

Bad -Can be time-consuming and expensive.

Question 3

Is it ethical

Answer 3

Ethical concerns, especially around consent and deception.

Sometimes more natural and less artificial than lab settings.

Often involves deception (participants may not know they are in an experiment).
Hard to gain fully informed consent without ruining the study.

Question 4

Is it reliable

Answer 4

Moderate reliability

Control of the independent variable, reliability is higher than in purely observational research.

Lower reliability than lab experiments.
Conditions are harder to replicate exactly.

Question 5

Is it valid

Answer 5

High validity

Higher validity than lab experiments.
Behaviour is more natural because participants are in real-life settings.

Participants may still know they are being studied (Hawthorne effect), reducing validity.

Question 6

What’s an example and what did they do

Answer 6

Rosenthal and Jacobson- gave teachers questionnaire on who will be high achievers. They studied self fulfilling prophecy on if positively labeled students would excel which they did proving self fulfilling prophecy

Question 7

Is it representative

Answer 7

Can lack

Depends on sample.
Often small or specific groups (e.g., one school, one workplace).

Question 8

What theorists like/ dislike field experiments

Answer 8

Positivists support field experiments because:

They produce quantitative data.
They are closer to scientific methods.

Interpretivists are critical of field experiments because:

They don’t focus on meaning or participants feelings
They often use quantitative data.