labatory Flashcards
labatory
a test set in an artificial setting
case study
Milgram
mayo
Milgram study
·1960s experiment – wanted to find out if people would harm others when told to do so by an authority figure. Influenced by trials for those involved in the Holocaust.
Volunteers became ‘teachers’ in what they thought was an experiment on memory. When the ‘learner’, who they met earlier and thought, was another volunteer, got an answer wrong, they gave increasing levels of electric shock – the electric shocks were not real and the voice was a recorded message from an actor.
The ‘learner’ begins to shout in pain and asks the teacher to stop. The experimenter (scientist in white coat) tells the teacher ‘you must continue.’
mayo
Began research into factors affecting workers’ productivity at the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne plant.
5 female workers volunteered to participate who knew Mayo was conducting an experiment.
Mayo altered different variables such as lighting, heating, rest breaks and so on to see what effect they had on the volunteers’ output.
Surprisingly, not only did output go up when he improved their working conditions, but it continued to rise even when conditions worsened.
Mayo concluded that the workers were not responding to the changes he was making in the experimental variables, but simply to the fact that they were being studied and wished to please the experimenter!
lab advantage practical
Quick – especially for small-scale research where only a few participants are required. · Cheap – only lab needed.
lab disadvantage practical
Society is a complex phenomenon – cannot fit society into a lab. · It is impossible to identify and control all the possible variables that may influence the experiment, so they are limited on what they can measure. · Cannot be used to study the past – impossible to control variables that were acting in the past rather than the present. · Can only be used to study small samples. Difficult to investigate large-scale social behaviours such as religion or voting patterns.
lab ethical advantage
Consent is given by participants by simply attending the experiment. · Debrief – Milgram said their behaviour is completely normal after the study. · Supporters of Milgram argue his experiments can be justified ethically because they alert us to the dangers of blindly obeying authority figures. · The great majority of his participants (74%) said afterwards that they had learnt something of lasting value.
lab ethic disadvantage
Lack of informed consent – participants may not know the true aim of the study. E.g. Milgram lied about the true nature of the experiment in order to gain more valid results. · Harm – may harm and distress participants. E.g. in Milgram’s experiment participants were observed to “tremble, groan and dig their nails into their flesh. Uncontrollable seizures were observed for three subjects.” · Deception – lying to the participants about the true reason for the experiment. E.g. Milgram told participants the experiment was about memory.
theoretical lab advantage
Positivists favour this approach as it is reliable (repeat to gain consistency). · Test re-test –the original experimenter can specify precisely what steps were followed in the original experiment so other researchers can easily repeat the experiment - makes it representative if repeated with different participants. · Objectivity – standardised structure so no opportunity for researcher to influence the study
theoretical lab disadvantage
Interpretivists dislike this method as it is quantitative data which lacks verstehen and depth. · Hawthorne effect – participants change their behavior in an unnatural or artificial environment, and this reduces validity. E.g. in Mayo’s study.in Mayo’s study workers were not responding to the changes he was making but simply to the fact they were being studied and wished to please the experimenter. · Lacks ecological validity – fake/artificial setting. Expectancy effect – participants may do what they think the researcher wants them to do – reduces validity
