Evaluate Burger (2009) - 8 marks

Question 1

GENERALISABILITY

Answer 1

→ High Generalisability
Burger’s sample of 70 people is larger than Milgram’s sample of 40. → Milgram recruited 20-50 year olds, Burger 20-81 year olds, andtwo thirds of Burger’s sample were women, whereas Milgram’s were all male.
→ Burgers sample covers awider age range → can be generaslised to the wider population

Question 2

RELIABILITY

Answer 2

→ High Reliability → Milgram’s original procedure is very reliable because it can bereplicated.
→ In 1974, Milgram published the results of his 19 Variations, which all replicated his baseline 1963 study. Burger is replicating aspects of Variation #5 (heart condition to test for empathy) and Variation #17 (model refusal) as well as Variation #8 (testing women). Burger followed Milgram’s script wherever possible and used the same confederates every time.
→ By filming the whole thing, Burger adds to the inter-rater reliability because other people can view his participants’ behaviour and judge obedience for themselves.

Question 3

APPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS IN SOCIETY

Answer 3

• The study demonstrates how obedience to authority works and this can be used toincrease obediencein settings like schools, workplaces and prisons.
• Authority figures should wear symbols of authority (uniforms) and justify their authority with reference to a “greater good”.

Question 4

VALIDITY

Answer 4

→ Milgram’s study was criticised forlacking ecological validity
→ Lab Experiment → Artificial task → Ppts had to administer electric shocks
→ in real life, teachers are not asked to deliver electric shocks to learners. This criticism still applies to Burger’s study.

Question 5

ETHICS - MILGRAM ORIGINAL

Answer 5

→ Burger believes his study avoids the ethical problems of Milgram’s original.
→ Burgerscreenedout participants who were likely to be distressed by the study.
→ The Experimenter was a trained clinical psychologist who could identify signs of distress and would stop the experiment if anyone seemed to be disturbed by what was happening..

Question 6

LOW ETHICS

Answer 6

→ Low Ethics
→ Burgerdeceivedhis participants just as Milgram had done – the shocks weren’t real, the learner’s cries were a tape recording, the learner and second teacher were confederates. He did not getinformed consent(as with Milgram, this was advertised as a memory study), although he diddebriefparticipants afterwards.
→ TheBPS Ethical Guidelinessay participants must not be distressed; even though no one was reduced to tears, the procedure was surelydistressingfor at least some participants.