AO3

• What was Milgram's aim?

  Milgram aimed to test if situational factors led to the levels of obedience by Nazis witnessed during the holocaust by creating a situation that allowed him to measure the process of obedience when the commands require destructive behaviours.
• What was Milgram's hypothesis?

  He aimed to test the 'Germans are different' hypothesis- His original experiment in the USA was a pilot study, however the results made conducting the experiment in Germany unnecessary.
• Evaluate the sampling-ppts.

  + sample contained range of ages, occupations and backgrounds, so increases population validity

  +self-selected sample so more likely to take seriously

  +easier for researcher

  _ all males (andocentric) so beta bias, cannot be generalised to women

  _ volunterr bias only certain people might volunteer (extroverts)

  _ limited by location meaning findings cannot be generalised to other cultures
• Evaluation of methodology;

  + objective measurement of volts administered increases reliability and reduces researcher bias

  + interviews allowed for open ended answers increases validity

  _ non-participant observation so could miss important insights

  _ interviews open to social desirability
• Evaluation of location :

  + controlled EVs by standardising procedures, can test for reliability

  + can use specialist equipment in the lab (shock generator)

  _ lacks ecological validity as lab too artificial does not reflect real life
• Evaluation of procedure;

  + the debrief and meeting mr wallace overcame the distress of the study- ethics

  + standardising when mr wallace gave incorrect answers, when stopped answering, prods given allowed to be consistently repeated increases internal reliabilty

  _ ppts were deceived of nature of study, so couldnt give valid consent but reduces demand characteristics

  _ clear signs of distress shown-ethical issue
• Evaluation of findings and conclusion:

  + according to milgram the benefits of carrying out the research was worth the cost of distress shown by ppts - 84% of ppts were gald they had taken part

  + milgram said the signs of distress show that the ppts beleived that they were really harming mr wallace rather than just going along with (demand characteristics) - shows findings had internal validity

  _ clear signs of distress shown by ppts indicate there was a risk of stress, anxiety, humiliation and pain - ethical issue
• Evaluation of validity;

  internal

  • demand characteristics
  • researcher bias
  • social desirability

  external

  • ecological validity
  • self selected sample
  • beta bias
• Evaluation of reliability;

  internal

  • multiple observers
  • differences between each ppts experience

  external

  • only tested once so obedience levels may be a one off
• evaluation of ethical issues;

  • deception
  • risk of stress, humiliation, pain
  • right to withdraw- verbal prods prevented
  • valid consent- deceived of true aims
  • risk to ppts values/beliefs- killing another human may be undermined