experiments

• a laboratory experiment is an experiment carried out in a controlled setting
• a laboratory experiment is high in internal validity because extraneous variables can be controlled
• a laboratory experiment is low in ecological validity and low in mundane realism
• a field experiment is an experiment conducted outside of a laboratory where the investigator still controls the independent variable
• a field experiment will not have demand characteristics and the participants will be more relaxed
• field experiments may lack mundane realism, have low control over extraneous variables and may have ethical issues of participant awareness
• a natural experiment is one where the independent variable has not been directly manipulated
• natural experiments allow research of ethically difficult areas and ‘real‘ problems
• natural experiments do not allow random allocation, can only be used where conditions vary naturally and you cannot imply causality
• quasi-experiments are ones where the independent variable is pre-determined
• quasi-experiments allow comparisons between types of people
• quasi-experiments may have demand characteristics and low mundane realism