EVALUATION

• STRENGTHS OF A LABORATORY EXPERIMENT?

  • high control over extraneous/ confounding variables
  • high internal validity
  • cause and effect can be established
  • replication is easier
• WEAKNESSES OF A LABORATORY EXPERIMENT?

  • lacks mundane realism
  • lacks generalisability
  • findings lack ecological validity
  • participants may respond to demand characteristics
  • impractical
• WHY ARE LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS IMPRACTICAL?

  time consuming and expensive