Experiments

Experiments

1. Types

   • Laboratory experiments: control variables and are usually conducted in artificial environments
   • Field experiments: conducted in real-world settings, but variables remain tightly controlled

2. Strengths

   • Both
     • The hypothesis can be tested in a controlled environment
     • High reliability
     • Experiments allow for comparisons to be made with other experimental research
     • The researcher is seen as a detached, objective observer, which is considered to be more scientific
   • Laboratory experiments
     • It is easy to isolate and manipulate variables to identify the causes of events
   • Field experiments
     • Preferred by interpretivists because they are conducted in real-world settings and therefore more valid

3. Uses

   • To test a hypothesis
   • Used by both positivists and interpritivists

4. Weaknesses

   • It's difficult to isolate a single cause of a social issue
   • There are ethical issues, in that the researcher needs to treat one group of participants differently to another, raising the possibility of negative consequences on one group
   • Experiments often involve deception, where the researcher isn't honest with the participants about certain aspects of the experiment, this makes it difficult to obtain informed consent
   • Experiments are often only practical in small scale settings, which may be unrepresentative
   • Conditions are often artificial so they cannot always be applied to real-world settings
   • The risk of the Hawthorn effect (when participants change their behaviour because they know they're being studied) can undermine validity
   • Field experiments
     • Researchers can't control all variables, making it difficult to establish cause and effect

5. The Comparative Method

   • The comparative method can be used instead . It retains the main principles of the experiment but collects data on different societies or social group and then compares them with another society or group