pilavin

Question 1

strength of research method

Answer 1

a strength of using a field experiment is the chances of demand characteristics are limited. this is because the study on helping behaviour took place on a new York subway station which is a naturalistic environment - the ps are unaware they are being observed so there is less likely to have other variables/factors that could dictate the results

Question 2

weakness of research method

Answer 2

a weakness of using a field experiment is the variables could be difficult to control. the age and gender of the victim was controlled to see if there were any differences in helping behaviour depending on these factors. however, the number of passengers boarding the subway will be very hard to control as its not being kept constant.

Question 3

strength of data collected

Answer 3

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Question 4

weakness of data collected

Answer 4

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Question 5

ethical considerations

Answer 5

one way the piliavin study was unethical was through the ethical guideline of consent. this is because as this study conducted a field experiment, the ps were unaware that they were being observed. this would mean that the ps didn’t agree to take part ; the researcher didn’t get their informed consent.

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Question 6

validity

Answer 6

there was high ecological validty. this is because not only is the study on helping behaviour taking place in a naturalistic environment, but the actors are demonstrating the act of collapsing and the ps are simply choosing to help or not help - both of these tasks are seen as normal and would take place in real life context outside of the study.

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Question 7

reliability

Answer 7

there is a lack of internal reliability. this is because the procedure took place in a naturalistic setting causing it to not be as standardised as possible. this means that not all ps had the same experience because factors such as time and purpose of journey wont be the same. for instance, someone in the morning rushing to work is less likely to help a stranger who has collapsed.

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Question 8

sampling bias

Answer 8

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there was sampling bias through the timing in which the study into helping behaviour took place. the sample was taken from times 11am-3pm which leaves people who are at work/school unrepresented as it only focuses on people who are generally out and about around this specific time frame.

Question 9

ethnocentrism

Answer 9

it is ethnocentric because it was conducted only in New York. this means that only new York citizens were focused on and assumes that these findings can be generalisable to other cities despite the potential cultural differences between them that could impact helping behaviour.

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