Comparative Method

Question 1

how is the comparative method different from other experiments

Answer 1

unlike the other experiments, the comparative method is only carried out in the mind of the researcher and it does not involve the researcher actually experimenting on real people at all, it is a thought experiment. It relies on re-analysing secondary data.

Question 2

how is the comparative method like other methods

Answer 2

Like lab experiments it studies cause and effect

Question 3

how does it work

Answer 3

1. Identify two groups that are alike in all major respects except for the one variable we are interested in
2. The compare the two groups to see if this one differences between them has an effect.

Question 4

what are the advantages field experiments have over lab experiments

Answer 4

1. It avoids artificiality
2. It can be used to study past events
3. It avoids the ethical problems of harming or deceiving subjects

Question 5

famous study

Answer 5

Durkheim’s suicide study

Question 6

Durkheims suicide study

Answer 6

By observing official stats, D found there were patterns in the suicide rate, based on the hypothesis that low levels of integration of individuals into social groups caused high rates of suicide, he argued that Catholicism produced higher levels of integration than Protestanism = higher suicide rates for Catholics.

Question 7

disadvantages of the comparative method

Answer 7

It gives the researcher even less control over variables than field experiments so we can be less certain whether a though experiment really has discovered the cause of something