Social - Milgram

Question 0

What was the aim of the study?

Answer 0

Are there cultural differences referring to individual obedience to an authority?

Question 1

What did Milgram’s study confused on?

Answer 1

The study of obedience

Question 2

What was the hypothesis of the study?

Answer 2

Americans will act and respond to an authority figure just like the Germans in WW2

Question 3

What was the research method used?

Answer 3

Controlled observation

Question 4

Sampling technique used?

Answer 4

Volunteer sample

Question 5

Describe the sample

Answer 5

40 New-Haven men aged between 20-50 years old. No women or children. Of various occupations.

Question 6

Describe the IV

Answer 6

There was no IV as it was structured

Question 7

Describe the DV

Answer 7

The shock they’d apply to the actor, up to 450 volts

Question 8

Give the two controls in this study

Answer 8

• they were told that there would be no permanent tissue damage
• the 4 prods, 4 statements telling the participants to continue with the study

Question 9

Give a brief description of the procedure

Answer 9

The participant would meet the observer and the actor. They would then do a rigged draw to see who would be the learner and the teacher. The participant would then be given a test shock of 45 volts. The experiment would then begin

Question 10

Describe the findings/results of this study

Answer 10

Overall they found participants shopped signs of extreme nervous tension. This included sweating, trembling, biting their lips and digging their nails into their flesh. 3 participants had seizures and 14 more showed nervous laughing. Overall 65% of participants went to the full 450 volts, while only 22.5 stopped at 300 volts.

Question 11

Give two explanations for why the participants were so obedient

Answer 11

• the prestigious location of Yale University

- the 4 prods

Question 12

State one conclusion point

Answer 12

The conclusion of Milgram’s study is that people obey authority figures mainly due to situational factors, like being in a situation they’ve never been in before

Question 13

State one practical application

Answer 13

Teaching children while they grow up, allowing for them to stand up for they they believe in - defending what is morally right

Question 14

Discuss the ecological validity of this study

Answer 14

The study had fairly high ecological validity. This is because of two reasons, the first is that the participants truly believed they were inflicting pain - as recognisable through their reactions. Secondly the natural world has and does experience systems in which we obey to authority figures

Question 15

Evaluate the ethics of this study

Answer 15

One one hand it was good. Milgram debriefed his participants after the experiment, as well as asked for permission to publish results. On the other hand they were deceived to the true aims and did not give consent to what they were doing. Also they had no right to withdraw due to the prods

Question 16

Where was each data type used?

Answer 16

Quantitative - the voltage

Qualitative - asked questions during debriefing

Question 17

Two strengths of the study

Answer 17

• collected both data types

- good ecological validity

Question 18

Two disadvantages of this study

Answer 18

• ethics

- androcentric sample

Question 19

Name two improvements you’d make to this study

Answer 19

• make the participants give consent and not be deceived

- make the study applicable to both genders