STRENGTHS

• STRENGTHS OF MILGRAM'S RESEARCH?

  • internal validity
  • ethical issues
• INTERNAL VALIDITY ARGUMENT?

  • physical displays of stress suggest participant did believe
  • post-experiment interviews with participants showed participants thought shocks were real
  • high internal validity
• COUNTERARGUMENT FOR INTERNAL VALIDITY?

  • participants may not have believed experimental set-up
  • artificial
  • therefore high obedience rates are result of demand characteristics
• ETHICAL ISSUES ARGUMENT?

  • ethical criticisms are result of unexpected findings
  • procedure not unethical as it didn't predict behaviour
  • thorough debrief (many said they were "glad" they took part as they learnt something)
  • short term harm outweighed by long term benefits