Topic 3 - Experiments and MIC

Question 1

Laboratory experiments

Answer 1

• An experiment is a form of observation where variables are controlled in order to tesg hypothesis. A lab exmperiment takes place in an artificial envrionment where most variables can be effectively controlled
• Examples: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Milgrim’s Obedience Experiment, Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment

Question 2

Practical Issues

Answer 2

• Open systems: Keat + Urry - lab experiments are only suitable for studying closed systems. Society is an open system - impossible to researchers to control the variables
• Individuals are complex: not possible to match members of the control and experiment group exactly
• Cant be used to study the past
• More useful for small samples: difficult to investigate large scale social phenomena
• The Hawthorne Effect: behaviour that occurs is artificial, they know they are being observed
• Expectancy effect: experiment bias, reseracher can influence outcome with what they expect is going to happen.

Question 3

Ethical Issues

Answer 3

• Informed consent
• Harm to subjects: some may argue that minor harm may be justified ethically if the results yield significant social benefits

Question 4

Theoretical

Answer 4

• Positivists: favour lab experiments due to reliability
• Interpretivists: lab experiments lack validity

Question 5

Reliability and hypothesis testing.

Answer 5

• Positivists say they are hihgly reliable as they can be tested time and time again, can be easily repeated through the same steps
• Produces quantitative data
• Detatched and objective. Variables are manipulated.
• Researchers subjective feelings have so effect on outcome.

Question 6

Representativeness

Answer 6

• Positivists see representativeness as important in order to make generalisations about wider social structures
• With lab experiments, you cannot be sure it reflects the wider population
• Small samples = unrepresentative, findings cannot be generalised beyond experiment

Question 7

Validity

Answer 7

• Lack of external validity due to high level of control = less like the world outside of a lab situation
• Artificiaity may encourage the hawthorne effect: subjects react to being studied and produce invalid data

Question 8

Interpretivism and free will

Answer 8

• Humans are fundamnetally different to subjects studied by scientists
• Humans have free will and choice
• Actions can only be understood by the choices we make based on the meanings we give to events
• LAB EXPERIMENTS = fundamentally innapropriate method to study human beings

Question 9

Lab experiements and teacher expectations

MIC

Answer 9

• Harvey and Slatin
• Charkin et al
• Mason

Question 10

Harvey and Slatin (1976)

Answer 10

• Examined whether teachers had preconceived ideas about pupils’ social class
• Sample of 96 teachers - each of them were shown 18 pics of children from different SC backgrounds
• Pics were equally divided in terms of gender/ethnicity (control variable)
• They were asked to rate children on performance, parental attitudes to education and aspirations
• WC children = rated less favourably
• Study indicated teachers label pupils from different SC backgrounds

Question 11

Charkin et al (1975)

Answer 11

• Used a sample of 48 university students who taught lessons to a 10 year old boy
• 1/3 were told that the boy was highly motivated and intelligent
• 1/3 were told that the boy was poorly motivated with a low IQ
• 1/3 were given no information
• High expectancy group made more eye contact and had more ecnouraging body lang than low expectancy group

Question 12

Mason (1973)

Answer 12

• Looked at whether pos/neg expectations had a great effect
• Teachers were given pos/neg/neutral reports on a pupil
• Teachers observed pupils taking a test to see if any errors were made
• They were able to predict the pupils EOY attainment
• Mason found that negative reports had greater impact on teacher expectations

Question 13

Practical issues

Answer 13

• Schools are large institutions that have many variables that may affect teacher expectation
• Impossible to control the variables that might influence teachers expectations

Question 14

Artificiality

Answer 14

• Lab experiements are articifical
• Charkin: used uni students not real teachers
• Harvey and Slatin: used pics of pupils rather than real pupils

Question 15

Ethical issues

Answer 15

• Don’t involve real pupils: fewer ethical issues
• Mason/Harvey and Slation: no use of real pupils
• Charkin et al: used real pupils

Question 16

Narrow focus

Answer 16

• Only examine one aspect of teacher expectations such as body lang
• Useful: allows researcher to examine this variable more thoroughly
• Not useful: teacher expectations not seen within wider process of labelling and SFP - Charkin didnt investigate how pos/neg body lang affected pupils’ performance

Question 17

Field experiments

Answer 17

• Much more likely to be used in sociology than lab experiments.
• They are more valid but risk being unreliable because of the problem of controlling variables
• Takes place in objects natural surroundings
• Those involved dont know they are subjects of an experiment

Question 18

Actor test and correspondence test examples

Answer 18

• Brown and Gay: studied racial discrimination in employment. Sent white and black actor for interviews for the same posts. Subjects were matches in every other way other than ethnicity
• Wood et al: Similar study, sending applications to over 1000 jobs apprently from three applicants of different ethnicities

Question 19

Advantages/Limitations of actor and correspondence tests

Answer 19

ADVANTAGES
- More natural and valid for real life
- Avoids artificiality
LIMITATIONS
- Less control over variables: cannot be certain of the true cause
- Unethical: experiment is carried out without the knowledge and consent of subject

Question 20

Comparative method

Famous study

Answer 20

• Durkheim’s stduy of suicide: analysed official stats
• Carried out only in the mind of the sociologist: thought experiment
• Not experimented with real people
• Re analyses secondary data
• Still designed to discover cause and effect relationships

Question 21

Advantages/Limitations of comparative method

Answer 21

ADVANTAGES
- Avoids artificiality
- Used to study past events
- Avoids ethical problems or harming/deceiving subjects
LIMITATIONS
- Less control than field experiments

Question 22

Field experiments and teacher expectations

MIC

Answer 22

Rosethal and Jacobson
- Pupils were given an IQ test
- Teachers were then told they identified 20% of pupils who were likely to ‘spurt’, however, pupils were actually chosen at random
- Rosethal and Jacobson had two aims: plant a particular set of expectations in teachers mind about their pupils and see if it had an effect on pupils performance
- Teacher’s expectations were therefore identified as the independent variable
- Pupils retested 8 months later
- 1st 8 months = average of 8 IQ points, ‘spurters’ = average of 12 IQ points
- Greatest improvement found in youngest children, however after 12 months only seemed to effect 10-11 y/o’s

Question 23

Ethical issues

Answer 23

• ‘Spurters’ benefited from the study. 80% did not
• Potentially could have been held back academically due to teacher expectations, lack of attention and encouragement
• Unlikely to be carried out today where children have more rights and schools duty of care

Question 24

Reliability

Answer 24

• Relatively simple research design = easy to repeat: within 5 years of the original study, it had been repeated 242 times
• However, given the differences between school classes it’s unlikely that the original could be replicated exactly

Question 25

Validity

Answer 25

• Claimed teachers expectations were passed on through difference in the way they interacted with pupils - researchers didnt observe so no data to support this claim
• Later studies that did use observations found no evidence of teacher expectations being passed on through classroom interactions

Question 26

Broader focus

Answer 26

• R&J looked at the whole labelling process rather than examining single elements in isolation
• Study was longitudinal: identified trends over time