Experiments Flashcards
(19 cards)
what are experiments
research method rarely used by sociologists where the researcher manipulates, measures and quantifies a factor to see if it will cause a change in behaviour
ROSENTHAL and JACOBSON
manipulated teachers impressions of pupils and measured the impacts of this on students performance
laboratory experiments
controlled environment which depicts causal relationships between variables
field experiments
in research subjects natural environment so increases validity to depict correlations
strength: highly scientific
causal relationships and correlations
strength: reliable
can be replicated for testing and proving hypotheses or theoretical ideas
strength: quantitative data
allows for objective judgements to be made
P limitation: cost of materials
more costly due to materials and lab hire
P limitation: small-scale
difficult to obtain representative sample also relying on volunteers or those with ulterior motives
P limitation: difficult to control variables
people react to situations based upon past experiences and there is a lack of real-world consequences in lab experiments so participants may not act truthfully
E limitation: deception
often need to hide true aims from participants to obtain true reflection of behaviour
MILGRIM (lab experiment)
research into obedience where participants were deceived into thinking the research was about learning but actually about obedience
E limitation: lack consent
often lack any form of consent because if participant is aware they may alter their behaviour
E limitation: harm to participants
researching against moral code or not offering support after
BOURDIEU
Stanford prison study where college students internalised their roles as prisoners or guards, leading to extreme behaviours
T limitation: validity
lab behaviour may not reflect reality due to presence of researchers causing the Hawthorne effect
T limitation: does not explain behaviour
does not provide depth of understanding into people’s motivations behind acts (how not why) as it produces quantitative data
T limitation: not truly objective
subjective decision by researchers as to which variables will be manipulated, inherent bias in actions to prove a theory
BANDURA
Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observation learning
