Theory and Methods Topic 2 - experiments

Question 1

Laboratory experiments

Answer 1

Example - if we wanted to study how plants grow, we would take a set of identical plants and randomly divide them into two groups:
- Experimental group, vary the quantity of nutrients that they receive and measure any changes in size
- Control group, keep the quantity of nutrients constant and measure any changes in size

Scientists will alter variables in the experiments in order to discover what effect they have, this can discover cause and effect relationships

Question 2

Practical advantages of laboratory experiments (3)

Answer 2

1. Funding bodies - they prefer to fund lab experiments as they hold the prestige of being a science, being objective and giving conclusive evidence
2. Personal characteristics - experimenters need to be detached from their participants as to not impact their results, no need to have specific characteristics
3. Easy + step by step - sociologists would need to follow precise instructions that are set out to them

Question 3

Ethical advantages of laboratory experiments (3)

Answer 3

1. Informed consent - lab experiments happen in an unnatural setting which means participants have consented to being there
2. Legality - lab experiments rarely ask participants to do anything illegal
3. Benefits society - if lab experiments do break ethical guidelines, the sociologists involved argue that the benefits for society outweigh ethical issues

Question 4

Theoretical advantages of laboratory experiments (2)

Answer 4

1. Reliability - lab experiments happen in an unnatural environment so it would be easy to replicate. The original experimenter can specify the precise steps used in the original experiment
2. Detached method - researcher only manipulates the variables and records the results therefore the scientist’s personal feelings and opinions have no effects on the findings

Question 5

Practical disadvantages of laboratory experiments (3)

Answer 5

1. Society is very complex - it’s impossible to identify, let alone control all the possible variables which could impact the study, lab experiments can’t be used to study the past because variables can’t be controlled
2. Time - Not everyone has the privilege to give up their time so it may be easier to study those who can take time off work, or work normal ‘9-5’ jobs
3. Money - There are specific costs considered with lab experiments, such as expenses, cost of hiring the lab, equipment etc.

Question 6

Ethical disadvantages of laboratory experiments (3)

Answer 6

1. Lack of informed consent - consent may be difficult to gain from certain groups who may not fully understand the nature of the research (children, people with learning difficulties)
2. Deception - lab experiments allow an ease of deception as scientists have a form of authority
3. Harm - these experiments could also cause harm to participants if they are deceived

Question 7

Milgram’s study (1974)

Answer 7

Studied obedience to authority and lied to his participants about the nature of the research.
Research was actually testing people’s willingness to inflict pain, 65% of participants were prepared to administer shocks of 450 Volts (although it wasn’t real)

Question 8

Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment (1971)

Answer 8

This experiment took students from Stanford and looked at how they acted when given into ‘prisons’ and ‘guards’. They were paid $15, and found that guards with quazi-power lead to psychological abuse of ‘prisoners’

Question 9

Theoretical disadvantages of laboratory experiments (2)

Answer 9

1. Validity - studies are focused on collecting quick statistical answers, which means you can’t get deep answers, not fully truthful
2. Representativeness - lab experiments only use small samples, therefore it is very difficult to investigate large scale phenomena

Question 10

Hawthorne effect

Answer 10

The lab is not a ‘normal’ environment, meaning it is likely any behaviour in this environment will be unnatural and artificial, which can lead to invalid results.
- If people are aware they’re being studied, they may behave differently

Question 11

Mayo (1927) Electric company - Hawthorne effect

Answer 11

Mayo looked at factors affecting worker’s productivity and studied 5 variables - lighting, heating, rest breaks etc.
- Production increased when he improved working conditions, but also when conditions worsened, Mayo concluded the workers were actually responding to the fact they were being observed to please observer

Question 12

Field experiments

Answer 12

• They take place in the subject’s natural surroundings, not an artificial lab environment
• Those involved are generally not aware they’re part of an experiment therefore no Hawthorne Effect

The researcher manipulates one or more of the variables to assess the effect it has on the subjects. Field experiments are more ‘natural, valid and realistic’ however this means there’s less control over variables

Question 13

Practical advantages of field experiments (2)

Answer 13

1. Pre-existing setting - there is no need to hire out or create an artificial setting that can take lots of time and money
2. Money - it is cheaper as the setting is natural and doesn’t need to be constructed

Question 14

Ethical advantages of field experiments (2)

Answer 14

1. Confidentiality and privacy - there is no need to collect any identifying information on participants, people’s identities can be kept safe
2. Unintrusive - can be done without people going out of their way to participate which means it doesn’t intrude in usual routines

Question 15

Theoretical advantage of field experiments (1)

Answer 15

1. Validity - most truthful to how people would act in real life (ecological validity as it is realistic to a natural environment)

Question 16

Rosenhan (1973) ‘Pseudo patient’ experiment

Answer 16

Researchers presented themselves at 12 California mental hospitals saying they had been hearing voices. All were admitted and diagnosed with schizophrenia, once in hospital they stopped complaining of symptoms and acted normally. Staff still treated them as if they were mentally ill, which suggests it wasn’t the behaviour which caused them to be treated as ‘sick’, but the label.

Question 17

Practical disadvantages of field experiments (2)

Answer 17

1. Time - it may take a long time for the required outcome to be observed as people in the environment many not interact with the experiment
2. Can’t control all variables - the environment isn’t real which means it’s hard to control

Question 18

Ethical disadvantages of field experiments (2)

Answer 18

1. Consent - unethical as subjects are usually unaware that they’re being studied
2. Covert - happens in a real environment so it’s easy for the researcher to conceal their identity, unlikely that everyone in the environment is aware

Question 19

Theoretical disadvantages of field experiments (2)

Answer 19

1. Unreliable - data is hard to repeat due to it taking place in a natural environment
2. Unrepresentative - usually taken on a small scale with a small sample size so generalisations can’t be made

Question 20

Comparative method

Answer 20

Carried out in the mind of the sociologist as a ‘thought experiment’, therefore it doesn’t involve experimenting on real people, it is designed to discover cause and effect relationships
Step 1: identify two groups of people which are alike except from the variable being investigated
Step 2: compare the two groups to see if the difference between them has any effect
- Poses no ethical +/-

Question 21

Durkheim (1897) Study of suicide

Answer 21

Found that Catholicism produced higher levels of integration than Protestantism, therefore he predicted Protestants would have higher suicide rates. Tested his theory by comparing suicide rates of Catholics and Protestants who were similar in all other respects. Official statistics supported this prediction.

Question 22

Practical advantages of comparative method (2)

Answer 22

1. Money - there is no actual experiment taking place so it costs nothing other than the researchers time to gather the statistics
2. Time - takes less time to carry out a comparative experiment as there is no need to set up an experiment, data is already analysed

Question 23

Theoretical advantages of comparative method (2)

Answer 23

1. Reliable - it is easy to repeat especially overtime, you can compare statistics of the past to current statistics
2. Representativeness - the study can gather information on a large population

Question 24

Practical disadvantages of comparative method (2)

Answer 24

1. Access - some data may have restricted access as it may be sensitive or personal that the person may not want to share
2. Misunderstanding - there may be language barriers or no clarification of statistics

Question 25

Theoretical disadvantage of comparative method

Answer 25

1. Validity - statistics and analysis are impacted by bias because the research takes place in the researchers own head