types of experiment

• what is a laboratory experiment?


  A controlled experiment that takes place in a controlled environment where the independent variable is manipulated and the researcher sees the impacts on the dependent variable
• strength of lab experiment

  • controlled
  • minimised extraneous variables
  • can easily be replicated
• limitations of lab experiment


  • demand characteristics
  • experimenter bias
  • low ecological validity
• what is a field experiment?


  Research conducted in a more natural environment where the variables are still controlled
• strength of a field experiment


  • higher ecological validity
  • demand characteristics are less likely to affect results
• limitation of field investigation


  • ethical consideration
  • confounding variables
  • loss of control
  • precise replication not possible
• what is a quasi experiment?

  An experiment where the IV has not been determined by the researcher and instead it simply exists