LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS

Question 1

(PET)- P; what is impossible to identify/control when doing a lab experiment?

Answer 1

It is impossible to identify/control all the possible variables that influence the experimental group

Question 2

(PET)- P; what time frame can it not study?

Answer 2

The past

Question 3

(PET)- P; what size samples do lab experiments usually study?

Answer 3

Small samples, this makes it difficult to investigate large-scale social phenomena. This small-scale nature also reduces the representativeness

Question 4

(PET)- E; Lack of informed consent

Answer 4

May be difficult to obtain from groups such as children or people with learning difficulties as they may not be able to understand

Question 5

(PET)- E; Deception

Answer 5

It is wrong to mislead people, as Milgram’s (1974) study of obedience shows

Question 6

(PET)- E; Harm

Answer 6

There should be no harm inflicted on the participants

Question 7

The Hawthorne Effect

Answer 7

• The results won’t produce valid results due to the unnatural atmosphere
• Mayo (1927) struggled with the Hawthorne Effect

Question 8

Free Will

Answer 8

• Interpretivist opinion
• We have free will, consciousness and choice- unlike other objects
• Alternatives of lab experiments are ‘field experiments’ or ‘thought experiments’

Question 9

What are the two differences between field and lab experiments?

Answer 9

1. A field experiment takes place in the subject’s natural surroundings
2. Those involved aren’t aware they’re the subjects of an experiment

Question 10

What do field experiments avoid/ have over lab experiments?

Answer 10

• Artificiality is reduced
• However control over variables is lost
• They are unethical

Question 11

The Comparative Method:

Answer 11

• Designed to discover cause-and-effect relationships
• An example is Durkheim’s (1897) study of suicide
• No ethical issues