research method topic 5

Question 1

what is lab experiment? (3)

Answer 1

-in controlled settings

-investigate cause and effect

-used by positivist

Question 2

lab experiment
2 strengths
2 weakness

Answer 2

consent them coming to lab and taking part means they are agreeing so informed consent

reliable= under controlled conditions so it easily replicated

weakness

society is complex. which means under a lab experiment it is not possible to control all variables e.g participants mood and health.

deception = the researchers did not disclose true aims of study to participants in which the participants have been deceived.

Question 3

Using lab experiment in education
3 strengths
3 weakness

Answer 3

it would be difficult to gain access in real school to carry out experiments so it is easier to set up a lab experiment

most lab experiments do not use real children which is ethical as no children will be harmed in research.

can be easily replicable so data is reliable

weakness

inflexible = experimenter has control over the variables so they will only find out information about the variable they are testing but will not get any wider insight into the topic of research.

if real children are used it can cause psychological harm as they are minors

carrying out experiments under artificial conditions makes the data invalid as teachers may behave differently in the lab to how they behave with real students at their school.

Question 4

what is field experiment? (3)

Answer 4

-Carried out in natural settings

-covert

-see effects

Question 5

field experiment
2 strengths
2 weakness

Answer 5

confidentiality
data is quantitative so participants become number so no one knows who took part in research

more valid than lab experiment because it tends to be covert which prevents Hawthorne effect.

weakness:
-time consuming more difficult to set up under natural conditions

most study is covert so it’s impossible to gain consent

Question 6

what are strengths and limitations of using field experiment
2 strengths

3 weakness

Answer 6

names of school, teachers and students can be protected as you can change the name.

more valid than lab experiment as it carried out with real teachers and students

• access = difficult gaining access as it controversial topics
• children = may cause psychological harm and are they really consenting? they are minors

unrepresentative = data may be unrepresentative as it only one schools can represent it to the population

Question 7

what is comparative method?
2 strengths
2 weakness

Answer 7

comparing two social group that are similar in all aspects but one
-uses official statics to make comparison.

data is quick to obtain it as it uses official statics which is cheap.

No ethical problems because there are no active participants

Data the experiments may need may not exist if its not gathered by the government in official statistics

lacks validity as they can be imposing their own meaning on the data