2.2 Research Methods - Experiments Flashcards
What are LAB EXPERIMENTS?
Laboratory experiments
Two groups - an experimental group and a control group.
Can compare results
independent variable and dependent variable = cause and effect
The scientist will manipulate (alter) the variables in the experiment in order to discover what effect they have.
LAB EXPERIMENTS: FREE WILL: Interpretivists
Interpretivist sociologists see humans as having free will, consciousness and choice.
Human behaviour cannot be explained in terms of cause and effect, it needs to be understood in terms of the choices we freely make.
PRACTICAL advantages of LAB EXPERIMENTS
Funding bodies: funding bodies like to fund lab experiments as they hold the prestige of being a science, being objective, and giving conclusive evidence towards cause-and-effect relationships. Allows for sociologists to take out the experiment more easily as they can pay for equipment and researchers.
Personal Characteristics: Experimenters would not need personal characteristics as they need to be detached from their participants as to not impact results.
Easy & step by step: Taking out the experiment would be easy as all the sociologists would need is to follow the precise instructions.
ETHICAL advantages of LAB EXPERIMENTS
Informed consent: as lab experiments happen in an unnatural setting to get participants into the lab setting, they must have given informed consent to be there. This informed consent is also usually a requirement for funding.
Legality: lab experiments rarely ask participants to do anything illegal.
Benefits society: when lab experiments do break ethical guidelines (such as Zimbardo or Milgram) the sociologists involved argue that the benefits for society from the findings outweigh any ethical issues.
THEORETICAL advantages of LAB EXPERIMENTS
Reliability: easy to replicate.
- The original experimenter can specify the precise steps used in the original experiment.
- detached method: the researcher only manipulates the variables and records the results, therefore the scientist’s personal feelings and opinions have no effect on the findings. So, it is easy to repeat.
PRACTICAL disadvantages of LAB EXPERIMENTS
Society is a very complex issue: impossible to identify, let alone control, all the possible variables
Laboratory Experiments cannot be used to study the past as it would be impossible to control variables that were acting in the past rather than the present.
Time: Not everyone has the privilege to give up their time.
Additionally for a large sample size this would be time consuming as they must be studied all at once to replicate all the specific components.
Money: There are specific monetary costs.
ETHICAL disadvantages of LAB EXPERIMENTS
Lack of informed consent: the researcher should have the informed consent of those participating, however this can be difficult to gain from certain groups who may not fully understand the nature of the research (E.g. children, people with learning difficulties).
Deception: lab experiments allow an ease of deception as scientists have a form of authority where participants trust that they are telling them the truth.
Harm: the experiment could also cause harm to the participants if they are deceived into doing harmful activities, such as Milgram’s study.
LAB EXPERIMENTS: Milgram
Milgram (1974) studied obedience to authority and lied to his participants about the nature of the research, telling them they were assisting in an experiment of learning. The participants were ordered by the researcher to administer electric shocks when the learner answered questions incorrectly. However the research was actually testing people’s willingness to inflict pain. Milgram’s participants were not aware no shocks were actually used, but 65% were prepared to administer shocks of 450 volts. Participants were said to have “sweat, stutter, tremble, groan, bite their lips”
LAB EXPERIMENTS: HARM: Zimbardo
Zimbardo – Stanford prison experiement (1971): This experiment took students from Stanford and looked at how they acted when given into “prisoners” or “guards” randomly. They were paid $15 a day. They found that guards with quazi-power lead to the psychological abuse of “prisoners”. The experiement was ended early on the 6th day
THEORETICAL disadvantages of LAB EXPERIMENTS
Validity: as the studies are focused on collecting quick statistical answers, as positivism likes to get a quick reliable answer, you cannot get a deep answer as to why people are acting the way that they are so it is not fully truthful.
Representativeness- Laboratory experiments usually only study small samples, therefore it is very difficult to investigate large scale phenomena, Eg. religion. This can also reduce the representativeness of a study.
The Hawthorne effect
LAB: What is THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT?
The laboratory is not a “normal” environment, meaning it is likely any behaviour in this environment will be unnatural or artificial. This can lead to invalid results.
• If people are aware they’re being studied they may behave differently, Eg. second guess wat the researcher
wants them to do and act this way. This problem has become known as “The Hawthorne Effect”.
The Hawthorne Effect: Elton Mayo
Elton Mayo (1927) Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne plant:
Mayo looked at factors affecting worker’s productivity and studied 5 volunteers who knew he was conducting an experiment. Mayo altered different variables – lighting, heating, rest breaks etc. Production increased when he improved working conditions, but also when conditions were worsened. Mayo concluded the workers were actually responding to the act they were been observed and wanted to please the experimenter.
What are FIELD EXPERIMENTS?
Field experiments are an alternative to laboratory experiments, there are two main differences:
1. They take place in the subject’s natural surroundings, not an artificial laboratory environment.
2. Those involved are generally not aware they’re part of an experiment therefore there is no Hawthorne Effect.
The researcher manipulates one or more of the variables to assess the effect it has on the subjects. The difference between a field experiment and an observation is that specifically a manipulation of their natural environment.
This shows the value of field experiments as more “natural, valid and realistic”, however the more realistic the situation is made, the less control we have over the variables. As a result of this we cannot be certain the causes we have identified are the correct ones.
PRACTICAL advantages of FIELD EXPERIMENTS
Preexisting setting: As the setting in pre-existing there is no need to hire out a lab or create an artificial setting that can take lots of time and money.
Money: It is cheaper as the setting is natural and doesn’t need to be constructed and there is no need to hire a venue to carry out research.
ETHICAL advantages of FIELD EXPERIMENTS
Confidentiality and privacy: There is no need to collect any identifying information on participants so that people’s information and identities can be kept safe.
Unintrusive: as it can be done without people having to go out of their way to participate and therefore is unintrusive to their usual routines as it happens in their natural environment.
