Evaluate Kohlberg’s sample
• P: limitation of kohlberg’s research is his sample was biased, consisted only of boys from Western, middle class backgrounds
• E: Gilligan (1982) argued that Kohlberg’s theory reflects male-oriented morality based on justice, differs from female morality that emphasises care + relationships. found women often prioritise compassion in moral reasoning, which was not captured in Kohlberg’s justice-focused dilemmas.
• E: suggests theory lacks population validity, may not apply to females or people from non-western cultures. However, Jorgensen (2005) suggested Gilligan’s critique complemented rather than disproved Kohlberg’s theory, meaning key ideas like universal sequence of stages still hold merit. Nonetheless, limited sample means Kohlberg‘s conclusions may not represent diverse moral reasoning across genders + cultures
• L: therefore, narrow and unrepresentative sample undermines generalisability
