What are the types of experiments?
- Laboratory
- Field
- Comparative
who favours lab experiments?
positivists
who favours field experiments?
interpretivists
What is a lab experiment?
Experiments conducted in a highly controlled environment
- They are designed to examine behaviour in a quantitative way
- the sociologists manipulates something to see the impact it has on participants
Define independent variable
the variable we change eg the amount and type of breakfast
Define dependent variable
the end result or what we measure, eg concentration levels
Define extraneous variables
things that are not the independent variable but could affect the results
What are the practical advantages of lab experiments?
- Personal skills not needed/ characteristics not required - don’t need to train people as research is detached - makes it quicker and cheaper
- You can control variables - experiment is in a lab setting (artificial) you can manipulate certain aspects
What are the practical disadvantages of lab experiments?
- It is impossible to control all variable, factors like sleep and diet may impact the way the individual is
- Time and money - cost of lab and equipment, time consuming to carry out
What are the ethical advantages of lab experiments?
- Informed consent - they’re in the lab physically, have the right to withdraw, participants are debriefed
- Anonymity/ confidentiality - personal details are kept out of reports, participants aren’t named, lab experiments are to personal so it is easy to maintain confidentiality
What are the ethical disadvantages of lab experiments?
- Deception - it may be necessary to deceive participants to ensure that the behaviour observed is true to life
- Harm - experiment may harm the participants if they have been lied to or if they are asked to do things they are uncomfortable with, eg milgram
Define hawthorn effect
the impact a researcher can have on the behaviour of those they are observing
What are the theoretical advantages of lab experiments?
POSITIVISTS PREFER
- because they’re reliable
- you can control the experimental conditions, the researcher is detached and objective
- it allows the researcher to identify and measure behaviour patterns quantitively and look at cause and effect relationships
What are the theoretical disadvantages of lab experiments?
INTERPRETIVISTS DISLIKE
- not valid as it is an artificial environment producing unnatural behaviour - they act in a socially desirable way - hawthorne effect - can’t compare
- no versthen - lack of detail and depth
What are the practical advantages of field experiments?
- Natural - isn’t artificial like lab experiments, more natural behaviour as participants are more relaxed - more valid data
- Personal skills of researcher not needed - makes it quicker and cheaper
What are the practical disadvantages of field experiments?
- limited control over variables
- hard to replicate
What are the ethical advantages of field experiments?
- informed consent - individuals have a right to withdraw - participants are briefed
- anonymity and confidentiality - personal details are kept confidential - participants aren’t named
What are the ethical disadvantages of field experiments?
- Harm - lying about the purpose, confusion into whether there’s informed consent
- Deceit - involves carrying out experiments without consent, more likely to lie about the nature of the research
What are the theoretical advantages of field experiments?
INTERPRETIVSTS LIKE
- Valid - more truthful as there’s natural behaviour and no hawthorn effect, small scale
- verstehen - details and depth
- Measure cause and effect in a scientific way - objective
What are the theoretical disadvantages of field experiments?
POSITIVISTS DISLIKE
- Not representative - sample size is too small so can’t make generalisations
- Not reliable - not standardised so can’t be repeated, can’t make comparisons
What was Milgrams study for lab experiments?
- used around 780 participants
- all real participants went to 300 volts, and 65% continued until the full 450 volts
- concluded that under the right circumstance, people obey unjust orders
- being in a lab allowed for variable to be controlled
- however, results are not applicable across cultures and in the real world
What was Bandura’s study for lab experiments?
- studied 72 children, 35 boys 35 girls
- children were unaware which increase validity, as no hawthorn and they’re less likely to show demand characteristics
- mundane realism - cannot be generalised to the real world
- suggested people could imitate behaviour they’ve seen
What was Jacobson and Rosenthal’s study using field experiments?
- sent a fake IQ test to a school class
- labelled random kids as ‘spurters’
- found the teacher behaviour was a crucial factor in their expectations about pupil’s intellectual ability
