Expermiments

Question 1

Experiment Evaluation

Answer 1

•P - Impossible to identify all possible variables which can change results. Both types are impractical for needing specialist equipment and potentially environments.
•E - Can be issues with informed consent, deception, right to withdraw, protection from harm.
•R - Experiments only really possible on small-scales. Small settings/samples limit representativeness and generalisation potential.
•V - Lab experiments lack validity; field experiments are better but all can suffer the Hawthorne effect.
•E - Usually quantitative - easily analysed but lack Verstehen
•R - Lab experiments tend to be more reliable as they used standardised procedure and environments.
•T - Positivists favour them as they think society can be studied using typical objective, scientific methods.
Interpretivists state that experiments have little use in sociology as scientific methods cannot assess unique individuals.

Question 2

Rosenthal and Jacobson 1968

Answer 2

Spurter Experiment. Unethical with mixed reliability
Field experiment Intelligence and learning, self-fulfilling prophecy; Study Basics: Researchers misled teachers into believing that certain students had higher IQs. Teachers changed own behaviors and effectively raised the IQ of the randomly chosen students