laboratory experiments Flashcards
what is an experimental group?
the group that are manipulated in an experiment in order to measure the effect
define a control group?
the group that are not manipulated in order to provide a comparison
define an independent variable?
the factor that is manipulated in an experiment
define a dependant variable?
the result of the manipulation
what is a laboratory experiment?
an experiment conducted in a controlled environment
why is a laboratory experiment usually rejected by sociologist?
due to serious practical, ethical and theoritacal issues
what method normally use laboratory experiments?
positivist
name 2 key laboratory experiments?
bandura;bobo doll experiment, milgram;obedience to authority
Summary of Bandura’s study
showed one set of kids an adults hitting a particular dull and when those kids where put in the room they attacked the dull while the kids that didnt witness the adult just left the dull alone when they where in the room
Summary of Milgram Study, and what did it cause to some of the participants?
told participants it was all about learning through punishment while it was about testing obedience he said to the participants that evertime someone got the answer wrong they can shock them which they did and it caused psycological harm to the particpants as they thought they caused harm till he told them the truth in the debriefing
name a practical strength of laboratory experiments?
they are often quick to conduct compared to methods such as interviews
name a theoretical strength of laboratory experiments?
it has objectivity so the experiment can be carried out without the researcher views influencing it
name a practical weakness of laboratory experiments?
society is too complex to fully research in a lab
name an ethical weakness to laboratory experiments?
could cause psycological harm to the participants like in milgram’s study of obedience
name a theoretcal limitation of laboratory experiments?
often small scale with a small sample size so lacks representativeness
