types of experiments

• what are the four types of experiments?

  lab

  field

  natural

  quasi
• what are lab experiments?

  controlled experiment with controlled variables
• whats a field experiment?

  Research experiment conducted in a real-world setting.
• whats a natural experiment?

  conditions/ IV are naturally occurring, and not manipulated by researcher
• what are strengths of lab experiments?

  • high control over extraneous variables due to standardisation; researcher knows that any findings is due to IV and not EV
  • High internal validity
  • Replicable due to high levels of control
• what are weaknesses of lab experiments?

  • Lack generalizability; may be quite artificial and cannot be generalised beyond research setting so low external validity
  • Demand characteristics as participants will know they're being investigated
  • May not reflect real life so low mundane realism
• what are strength of field experiments?

  • Natural environment so they have higher mundane realism than lab experiments
  • High external validity as participants are less likely to know theyre being researched
• what are weaknesses of field experiments?

  • Cause and effect between IV and DV is harder to locate due to lack of control
  • Ethical issues: if participants are unaware then they cannot consent.
• what are strengths of natural experiments?

  • Provide opportunities for research that could not be created due to practical/ethical reasons (the romanian orphans)
  • Have high external validity as they involve study of real-life issues AS THEY HAPPEN
• what are weaknesses of natural experiments?

  • Natural experiments are usually very rare reducing the opportunities for research
  • They usually are unusual circumstances and so hard to generalise
  • Cannot randomly allocate participants to conditions so confounding variables
• what is a quasi experiment?

  an experiment using variables that simply exist (age, gender)
• what is a strength of quasi experiments?

  Controlled,

  high internal validity,

  replicable
• what are weaknesses of quasi experiments?

  Cannot randomly allocate participants to conditions so confounding variables