Experiments: Location Of Research

Question 1

What is the laboratory

Answer 1

An environment which can be controlled by the researcher. It’s a room equipped to allow scientific research and measurement

Question 2

What is the field

Answer 2

outside the lab in a natural setting, an environment that is more familiar for the participant. E.g. hospital, train etc…

Question 3

What is online (research location)

Answer 3

Connected via the internet to another source. This could be using an app or a website

Question 4

Describe the extent to which Laboratory, field and online have: control over extraneous variables

Answer 4

• lab = very good
• field = not good (can’t control environment)
• online = kinda good (you can control questions and timings but not distractions)

Question 5

Describe the extent to which Laboratory, field and online have: Ecological validity

Answer 5

• lab = not good (as unnatural as it can be)
• field = very good (As natural as it can be as a natural environment)
• online = not good (very unnatural (unless the task is normally carried out on a computer)

Question 6

Describe the extent to which Laboratory, field and online have: Access to equipment/software

Answer 6

• lab = very good (access to equipment)
• field = not good (only access to portable equipment)
• online = good (researchers can use free, cheap software that is quick to set up)

Question 7

Describe the extent to which Laboratory, field and online have: Ability to give consent (ethics)

Answer 7

• lab = good (you can get consent as soon as they enter the lab)
• field = bad (because we’re looking for natural behaviour = not easy to get consent)
• online = kinda good (people only need to tick a box, however they might not fully understand what they’re agreeing to)

Question 8

Describe the extent to which Laboratory, field and online have: Range of behaviour

Answer 8

• lab = bad (limited - somethings can’t be tested in a lab, e.g. behaviours that take place over a long period of time)
• field = good (you can research behaviours that can’t be observed in a lab)
• online = bad (self report = social desirability bias = they give socially acceptable answers)

Question 9

Describe the extent to which Laboratory, field and online have: ability to debrief (ethics)

Answer 9

• lab = good (as soon as they enter the lab)
• field = bad (they don’t know they’re taking part a lot of the time)
• online = bad (you can’t really see them)

Question 10

Describe the extent to which Laboratory, field and online have: replicability

Answer 10

• lab = good (easy to copy because its a highly standardised environment
• field = not good (environment isn’t under control/manipulated = hard to replicate)
• online = good (standardised questions and formats are easy to repeat)

Question 11

Describe the extent to which Laboratory, field and online have: Sample representativeness

Answer 11

• lab = bad (limited - certain types of people from an area/personalities would go to the lab)
• field = bad (restricted by time and place the research is carried out)
• online = good (participants can be recruited from all parts of the world quickly and cheaply)

Question 12

what is external validity

Answer 12

The degree to which a research finding can be generalised to other situations and people