Types of experiment Flashcards
Explain what is meant by a ‘field experiment’ (2 marks)
A field experiment is conducted in natural settings but the IV is still manipulated by the researcher. A “real” experiment.
Explain one strength and one limitation of a laboratory experiment (2 marks + 2 marks)
One strength of a laboratory experiment is that they have a high level of control of extraneous variables and confounding variables. This means that the researcher is better able to determine cause and effect between the IV and the DV (high internal validity).
One weakness of a laboratory experiment is that it has a poor external validity. Because of the artificial lab conditions, participants may not act ‘naturally’ meaning that any findings cannot be generalised to a real life setting.
Explain the difference between a field experiment and a natural experiment (3 marks)
In a field experiment, the study is conducted in natural settings and the independent variable is manipulated by the experimenter whereas a natural experiment can be conducted in either artificial conditions or natural conditions and the independent variable is not manipulated, it has come from a naturally occurring event that would have happened without the researcher’s interest.
Consider the strengths and weaknesses of a quasi-experiment (4 marks)
Has the same strengths as a lab experiment may (e.g. good control of EVs and CVs, and can be replicated) as quasi experiments usually occur in artificial lab conditions.
Participants are not randomly allocated to conditions so participant variables may intervene and cause a change in the DV acting as a confounding variable.
