Experiments (methods in context)

• Sociologists sometimes use experiments to study issues such as teacher expectations, classroom interaction, labelling, pupils' self-concepts, and the self-fulfilling prophecy
• Investigating the nature and impact of teacher expectations

  1. Using both field and laboratory experiments

  2. Examining how teacher expectations can lead to labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy

  3. Studying both positive and negative expectancy effects
• Laboratory experiments on teacher expectations

  • Examine one specific aspect in isolation
  • Avoid using real pupils to reduce ethical concerns
• Field experiments on teacher expectations

  • Conducted in real educational settings
  • Pose greater ethical concerns as they can have a substantial impact on pupils
• Rosenthal and Jacobson's 'Pygmalion in the Classroom' study illustrates the difficulties of using field experiments to study teacher expectations
• Aims of Rosenthal and Jacobson's study


  • Plant a particular set of expectations about pupils in the minds of teachers
  • See if this had any effect on pupil performance
• Rosenthal and Jacobson had to deceive the teachers about the true nature of the IQ test and the purpose of the research
• Rosenthal and Jacobson's research design was relatively simple and easy to repeat, but it is unlikely that the original could be fully replicated due to differences between school classes
• Rosenthal and Jacobson claimed that teachers' expectations were passed on through differences in the way they interact with pupils, but they did not have data to support this claim
• Rosenthal and Jacobson did look at the whole labelling process from teacher expectations through to their effect on pupils, rather than just examining single elements in isolation
• Rosenthal and Jacobson's study was longitudinal, which allowed them to identify trends over time