Quantitative methods- Experiments

Question 1

What are experiments?

Answer 1

Quantitative methods
They allows for the control of variables within the reaserch setting
Reasechers will usually start with a hypothesis to prove or disprove
Positivist prefer this

Question 2

What is an independent variable?

Answer 2

What we change/manipulate in a study

Question 3

What is a dependant variable?

Answer 3

What we are measuring in a stidy

Question 4

What’s a lab study?

Answer 4

Labs where a study’s done in a controlled precise environment

Question 5

Why would a researcher want to use a lab experiment

Answer 5

When they want to establish a cause and effect relationship
between the variable

Question 6

What is a field experiment?

Answer 6

Doing a study in an environment that natural to participants e.g. a street school etx

Question 7

Why is field experimenting more common is sociological research?

Answer 7

P’s less likely to guess the aims or study

Question 8

What is extraneous variables?

Answer 8

Variables the reasercher can an unable to control e.g mood of the participant or their tiredness

Question 9

What is ecological validly?

Answer 9

How much your study represents real life

Question 10

Examples of lab experiments?

Answer 10

Milgram and Zimbardo

Question 11

Lab Milligram brief description?

Answer 11

Study in authority
even if it was unethical
If people got wrong answer they shocked them
The learners where actors and tye teachers where regular people

Question 12

Advantages of milligram lab?

Answer 12

Reliable as all variables were controlled

Question 13

Disadvantages of milligram lab!

Answer 13

Unethical
No protection from harm (psychological)
No right to withdrawal
Deception

Question 14

Brief description of Zimbardo lab?

Answer 14

Did another study about prison based on authority
Allocating prisoners and guards based on students in stanford uni offering an incentive
Based on if people will conform to authority

Question 15

Advantages of zimbardo?

Answer 15

Controlled environment
Incentive offered
No deception as they knew guards weren’t real
Informed concent

Question 16

Disadvantages of Zimbardo?

Answer 16

No protection from harm
Unethical
Right to withdrawal
Demand characteristics so validity’s a problem
Ecological validity

Question 17

Field experiment’s sociologists?

Answer 17

Rosenthall and Jacobson
Small and Marshall

Question 18

Brief description of rosenthall and jacobson?

Answer 18

Went to a school and gave children a test and identified 20% or the students randomly and labelled them as sputters and then told the school who they where
and 57% of spurters a year later they did then everyone else
This was based on the self fulfilling prophecy

Question 19

Advantages of Rosenthall and jacobsons study?

Answer 19

High ecological validity
Only way to find out specific topics
More valid and less chance for demand characteristics and screw and please you effect

Question 20

Disadvantages of rosenthall and jacobsons study?

Answer 20

Variables aren’t controlled
Not reliable as it can’t really be controlle
Deception
Unethical
Mental harm and jeprody of the other students success

Question 21

Feild experiment Small and Marshall brief explanation
?

Answer 21

Reaserch into racism in Bristol
Small (a white man) and Marshall (a black man) where similar expect their race
Tried to get a room in a B&B and tried to see if a room was given
S&M we’re wired up and had a hidden camera
1/3 of b&b have a room to the white man but not the black man

Question 22

Advantages of small and marshall’s study?

Answer 22

Reliables due to high control
High ecological validity

Question 23

Disadvantages of rosenthall and jacobsons study?

Answer 23

Unethical as didn’t agree to be on camera or microphones
Deception
Practically it’s costly and time consuming
No informed concent
No right to withdraw

Question 24

Advantages of experiments?

Answer 24

•Preferred by positivists
•Enables researcher to test hypothesis in a controlled condition
•Easy to control and manipulate variables in order to identify a cause and effect relationship
•Reliable and replicable so therefor can be checked by other reasercher so falsification
•Validty so sometimes the only way to discover true behaviour
•Felid experiment are more ecologically valid

Question 25

Disadvantages of experiments?

Answer 25

•Criticised by interpritivists
•Hard to control extraneous variables
•Humans are unpredictable so not suiticle in conducting experiments
•Unethical harming participants, deception, a lack of informed concent and right to withdrawal
• Invalidso changes in behaviour e.g. the Hawthorne affect
•Small scale so unrepresentative
•Impractical costly and time consuming

Question 26

What is the Hawthorne effect?

Answer 26

If your part of an artificial experiment you may deliberately or non deliberately chnage behaviour

Question 27

How was the hawthorne affect created?

Answer 27

Found at the Hawthorne electric plant by mayo
reasercher looks at factors impacting production gutters testing changes to make them speed up or slow down e.g. by lighting, break timing, temperature
No clear result so conclusion can be made that no matter what they changed they worked harder as workers knew they were being observed so therefore being named the Hawthorne effect