Meeus & Raaijmakers (1986) Evaluation

Meeus & Raaijmakers (1986) Evaluation

1. GENERALISABILITY

   • We are unable to generalise to the whole population, as the sample was 24 Dutch male participants aged between 24 and 54. This means we can not generalise. The sample is also very small.

2. RELIABILITY

   • The study was a lab experiment so there were very high controls of all the variables, giving the study some reliability. However, the sampling method was volunteer sampling, meaning that participants volunteered to take part. This could have lead to demand characteristics and low ecological validity.

3. APPLICATION

   • The findings of the study can be used to benefit society as it can explains behaviours such as that of soliders during wars.

4. VALIDITY

   • Despite being a lab experiment, it had very high ecological validity as 96% of the participants believed it was a real situation.

5. ETHICS

   • Deception - the participants were lied to about the aims of the participant.
   • Protection - the p's reported that they 'intensely disliked' giving the remarks.