A03

• What are the strengths of Asch’s research?

  1. Research methodology
• What are the limitations of Asch’s research?

  1. Lacks temporal validity
  2. Unrepresentative sample
  3. Ethical issues
• Strength = research methodology

  • Asch’s research was carried out in a lab under controlled conditions - it provided objective, measurable and quantitative data and used a clear IV and DV
  • The study can easily be replicated since it is a lab experiment
  • E.g. Smith et al. (2006) were able to replicate this study and produce similar results
  • These replications strengthen Asch’s original findings on conformity
• Limitation = lacks temporal validity

  • Asch‘s research took place throughout the 1950s in the US during McCarthyism, a strong anti-communist period when people were scared to go against the majority and so were more likely to conform
  • Perrin and Spencer (1980) repeated Asch’s study in the UK and found only one conformity response of 396 trials
• Limitation = unrepresentative sample

  • Asch used solely male sample, which highlights the beta bias and gender bias (androcentrism) nature of Asch’s research
  • Additionally, the sample were from the US, which is an individualist country and so the results may not accurately represent the conformity rates in other more collectivist cultures
  • E.g. Smith et al. (2006) analysed Asch-type studies across several different cultures and found that conformity was higher amongst collectivist cultures
  • Could be because collectivist cultures view the community as more important than the individual
• Limitation = ethical issues

  • Asch’s research broke several ethical guidelines including deception and protection from harm
  • The naive participants were deliberately deceived as they were led to believe the confederates were also genuine participants
  • They were also told that the aim of the experiment was to test their vision and not to investigate conformity
  • Additionally, participants were not protected from harm and many of them reported feeling stressed when they disagreed with the majority