Types Of Experiments Flashcards
What are field experiments?
-takes place in the subjects natural surroundings rather than in an artificial laboratory environment
-those involved are generally not aware that they are the subjects of an experiment, in which case there is no Hawthorne effect
What is the comparative method?
-‘a thought experiment’ does not involve the researcher actually experimenting on real people
-designed to discover cause-and-effect relationships
Step 1: identify 2 groups of people that are alike in all major respects except for the one variable we are interested in
Step 2:then compare the two groups to see if this one difference between them has any effect
What is an example of the comparative method?
Durkheims study of suicide
What was durkheims hypothesis in his study of suicide?
Low levels of integration of individuals into social groups caused high rates of suicide
What did Durkheim argue in his study of suicide?
Argued that Catholicism produced higher levels of integration than Protestantism
What was durkheims prediction in his study of suicide?
Protestants would have a higher suicide rate than catholics
How did Durkheim test his prediction in his study of suicide?
-tested his prediction by comparing the suicide rates of catholics and Protestants who were similar in all other important respects
-his prediction was supported by the official statistics, which showed catholics to have lower suicide rates