Methodology

Seite 1

Methodology:

Lab experiments

An incident is set up in a controlled and artificial environment such as a laboratory for a witness to experience.

Control of variables can lead to cause and effect conclusion being drawn from research

The IV manipulated concerns a factor that affects witnesses

The DV is measured typically involves amount or quality of recall about the incident

STRENGTHS:

The exposure to a staged incident, such as video footage does not cause undue stress of a field experiment in a real life setting and participants can be given the right to withdraw in case they feel undue stress

There is a high level of standardisation as all participants experience the same procedure

The level of control makes the procedure consistent and the results are likely to be the same again.

participants can be given informed consent and the right to withdraw which may be absent in a field experiment

Lab experiments control for extraneous variables that may affect eyewitness recall

WEAKNESSES:

lacks realism compared to real life situation, which means behaviour may not be spontaneous and natural

participants are often pre-selected and may form a homogeneous sample unlike real witnesses

interviewing in a lab using a questionnaire may cause low ecological validity

Field experiments

An incident is set up by a researcher in a natural environment

The incident occurs in an environment typical of witnessing a real event

The IV manipulated concerns a factor that affects witnesses

The DV is measured typically involves amount or quality of recall about the incident

The researcher tries to control as many factors as possible within the field setting

The aim is to establish a cause and effect conclusion

STRENGTHS:

The field experiment has high ecological validity and would represent a real witness experience

The lack of control in an environment would be realistic for a witness

Participants are often recruited through opportunity sampling which would represent real witnesses well

Real witnesses would represent a goo cross section of society rather than a pre-selected group

WEAKNESSES:

Sometimes it can be unethical to expose a participant to real life event if using a crime scenario

Real life exposure can cause distress and harm the participants which is against ethical guidelines

It is difficult to get informed consent and/or give right to withdraw as participants are used in their natural setting

Field experiments may not be able to control extraneous variables that could affect participants memory. However a lack of control is realistic in these circumstances.