Theory and Methods - Case Studies Flashcards
(5 cards)
What was Rosenthan’s study?
Told 12 different Californian mental hospitals they were hearing voices, so they were labelled as schizophrenic. When in the hospitals, they acted completely normal and said they felt fine, but were still treated as ill due to the label.
What did Durkheim study?
Studied suicide rates in relation to religion. He believed that low social integration would lead to higher suicide rates, so compared Catholics and Protestants suicide rates. However, the government didn’t have data on religion so he struggled.
What was Milgram’s study?
Studied obedience to authority using actors and electric shocks. The research tested people’s willingness to inflict pain, and he found that 65% administered shocks of 450 volts (lethal). Poor ethics as it harmed participants psychologically and they weren’t allowed to leave. They were also lied to, so it was a very unethical experiment.
What was Zimbardo’s study?
Prison experiment. Took students from stanford and compared how they acted when given roles as prisoners VS guards. The guards got power-hungry and psychologically abused prisoners. The experiment had to end early as it was very unethical.
What did Elton Mayo study?
Looked into factors affecting worker productivity, studying 5 workers who were aware he was conducting an experiment. He altered many different settings: temperature, lighting etc. Production increased whether the changes were positive or negative, because they wanted to please the experimenter, making the results less valid. Mayo coined the ‘Hawthorne Effect’ based on this study.
