EXPERIMENTS

• What do experiments let you find?

  cause and effect
• what are the two kinds of experiments?

  lab and field
• what are lab experiments?

  done in a controlled environment

  researcher changes independent variable and observes effect on dependent variable

  use a control group
• what are field experiments?

  take place in real social settings and those involved are often unaware
• who mainly uses field experiments?

  interpretivist sociologists
• strengths of lab experiments

  researcher has control

  get quantitative data

  able to replicate

  less ethical issues

  not as time consuming

  cost effective
• limitations of lab experiments

  hard to produce valid results

  hard to isolate single variables

  moral and ethical issues

  demand characteristics

  social desirability bias
• strengths of field experiments

  more valid as real life social settings

  can show hidden meanings

  easy access to sample

  reliable, can retest

  protect from harm

  cost effective
• limitations of field experiments

  can’t control variables

  less reliable

  social desirability bias

  ethical issues

  take lots of time