milgram obedience study

Question 1

back ground

Answer 1

• Nazi Germany
• 1933-1945, millions were slaughtered by the Nazis on command
• What lead to the holocaust?
• Was of Jewish decent 1963 Germans are different hypothesis - Milgram disagreed ‘just following orders’

Question 2

sample

Answer 2

• male participants only
• self-selected sampling he put up a poster and wanted volunteers
• 40 people
• age range 20-50
• many different professions

Question 3

procedure

Answer 3

1. 14 yale seniors were asked what hypothetically they believed the results would be
2. the real participants were given the role of the teacher and the teacher was picked via the drawing of straws however was previously rigged for the participant to be the teacher
3. Participants were given a 45 volt shock themselves before the test started to show / simulate the shock that the learner would receive (wouldn’t actually receive it)
4. Electric shock machine and chair were used to punish the learner
5. Pounding on the wall and screaming in pain was used to simulate that the learner didn’t want to continue
6. The prompt given to the participant to get them to continue was along the lines of the following
   a) Please continue
   b) The experiment requires you to continue
   c)It is essential that you continue
   d)It will not do any severe damage
7. how long it took to deliver the shock, how long they held the button for were recorded as the quantatative data
8. Sessions were filmed and notes were taken through a two mirror - qualatative data

Question 4

what was the electric voltage range

Answer 4

15v (slight shock) - 450v (severe danger shock)

Question 5

what were the participants originally told the study was about?

Answer 5

study on memory and learning

Question 6

weaknesses of the study

Answer 6

• gender bias as there was only male participants
• self selected sample means that the participant aren’t always generalisable results
• cultural bias (They looked at participants from new haven New York)
• no protection from psychological or physical harm
• participants were deceived

Question 7

type of data collected

Answer 7

both quantitative and qualitative