Lab Experiments Flashcards
What do lab experiments do?
They test theories and discover scientific laws of cause and effect.
Key features of a laboratory experiment
Controlled- it is conducted in an artificial environment where scientist can control different variables so scientists can test the hypothesis.
Cause and effect
The conditions of both groups are measured before the experiment starts and again at the end if we discover a change in the experimental group but none in the control group we may conclude that this was caused because of the variable establishing occurs and affect relationship
One practical issue
Open systems, Keat et al argues that lab experiments are only suitable for studying closed systems however society is an open system with countless factors thus making it impossible for the researcher to identify all the relevant variables.
Second practical issue
Lab experiments only study small samples therefore making it difficult to investigate large scale social phenomenon and individuals are too complex
One theoretical issue
Lack of informed consent the researcher needs the informed concern of the subject of the experiment however sometimes explaining the aim of the experiment beforehand may lead to the Hawthorn effect
Another ethical issue
Harm to subjects. Some lab experiments might inflict harm on the participants such as Milgram research.
Theoretical strengths
Lab experiments are seem to be reliable because they can be replicated as they use a standardised procedure. It also produces quantitative data so that the results can be easily compared to. It is also very detached and the subject feelings and values have no effect on the outcome of the experiment.
Theoretical issue
Lab experiments like internal validity this is due to the artificiality of the environment which may encourage the Hawthorn effect.
