usefulness- we need to look at research on 3 dimensions
moral dimension- who is the research useful for ?
practical dimension- does research have practical benefit?
knowledge dimension - does the research give us new insignts into behaviour and experience
links with milgram
migram holds up a mirror on our behaviour for us to look at and become aware of what we are cabable of
links with chaney
useful bc funhaler and compliance
sperry
provides insight to the inner workings of the brain and has stimulated research on the diff functions of l and r hems of brain
loftus and palmer
used to inform court decisions and improve our understanding of eyewitness testimony
simalaries
links to ideas of behaviourism, free will and determinism
ethics
relates to ethics bc one of the means of determining whether a study is ethically acceptable is to balance the potential usefulness against the potential costs
strengths
debate focuses our attention away from technical issues like sample sixes to more important qs like does it tell us anything useful or can we apply this knowledge
weakness
weakness is that just finding out new stuff is a good thing and doesn't need to be directly useful, just bc not useful now may be useful in the future
