Milgram Flashcards
What is the aim of his study?
To investigate whether destructive obedience to authority is unique to Germans or whether anyone could display brutality simply by following orders
What was the hypothesis?
No explicit hypothesis but “An individual who is commanded by legitimacy authority figure ordinarily obeys”
What is the IV?
No IV as it isn’t an experiment as it is a controlled observation
What is the DV?
Obedience levels measured in shocks
What are some possible EV’s?
Location Researcher bias Payment Demand characteristics Social desirability
What is the location of his study and some features of this
LAB LOCATION
Controlled environment
Controlled setting
Allow specialist equipment such as shock generator
What are some strengths of his location?
Control EV’s ↑internal validity
Standardised procedures= repeatable
Weaknesses of the location
Lacks ecological validity
Greater chance of demand characteristics
What methodologies did he use?
Non-ppt observation
Structured interview
What are the advantages and disadvantages of non ppt observations
+objective
+less researcher bias
+higher internal validity
-miss important insights
What are the advantages and disadvantages of structured interviews
+easy to compare
+less chance of bias ↑validity
-social desirability
-can’t deviate from Q’s
Who was his target population?
Everyone
What was the sampling technique
Self selected
What was the sampling frame?
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Who was the sample?
40 males aged 20-50
Advert in newspaper
Range of jobs and education
Paid $4.50 on arrival
What are the strength and weaknesses of the sample?
+easy
+wide variety of ppts
-volunteer bias
What are some examples of quantitative data
All ppts went past 300v
5 refused to go past 300v
26 went to full volts
14 nervous laughter
What are some advantages and disadvantages of quantitative data?
+objective and easy to analyse
-oversimplification
What are some examples of qualitative data?
Sweating, trembling, stuttering, non sadistic laughter
Advantages and disadvantages of qualitative data
+high in detail
-hard to analyse, subjective
Identify the levels of measurement and examples
Nominal ➛shocks in categories
Ordinal ➛rate intensity of pain on 14 point scale
Ratio ➛precise intervals in volts
Identify ethical issues and how they were dealt with
DECEPTION: advert in paper, procedure, sample shock ➛ debrief, right to withdraw
PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM: signs of stress, anxiety and humiliation ➛ debrief (84% glad to take part)
VALID CONSENT: volunteered ➛ debrief
RISK TO VALUES & RELATIONSHIP ETC..: thought killed someone could affect them ➛ debrief (84% glad taken part)
What are some issues with validity?
SOCIAL DESIRABILITY ➛ Yale, interviews, volunteer bias
RESEARCHER BIAS ➛ Non ppt observations
DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS ➛ Sample shock, deception, aware of research
What is internal validity?
Whether it is a genuine measure of behaviour
Advantages and disadvantages to the internal validity in the study?
\+paid at start \+deception \+sample shock \+non ppt observation - social desirability
What is external validity?
Degree it can be generalised both ecological and population validity
Issues with internal validity
Cultural bias
Self selected
Artificial setting
Didn’t recreate pressures
Ways of assessing validity
CONCURRENT: test with already valid test
CONSTRUCT: theory to test legitimacy
CONTENT: independent expert checks content
PREDICTIVE: compare findings with predictions
FACE: what is set out to measure
What is internal reliability and how was it dealt with?
Consistency inside the study
Controlled procedure
Standardised procedures & promps
What is external reliability and how is is dealt with?
Consistency outside the study
Is it replicable?
