Assess the Argument That Is Neither Possible nor Desirable to Use Experiments in Social Research

If I was doing this study, my hypothesis would be that “people, who receive an aversive stimulus every time they give an incorrect answer, will try harder to get the correct answer than those who do not receive anything”. My independent variables, which are the variables that researcher manipulates, would be the electric shocks and the emotional motivation; and my dependent variable, which is the variable that is tested and measured, would be the members’ results.

a psychological experiment or therapy situation), which serve to influence the behavior and/or self reported experience of the research receiver or patient’ (Orne & Whitehouse, 2000: 469). The concept illuminates the ways in which the research participant may try to infer the experimenter’s reasons for asking them to perform certain tasks, and will therefore consciously or unconsciously amend their behaviour accordingly, thus producing potentially robust experimental artifacts unconnected to the variables the experiment was designed to study. (p.

There are several parts to the experiment such as both the independent and dependent variables. The independent variable is controlled or changed during the experiment to test the effects on the dependent variable. The dependent variable is tested and measured during the test .A controlled variable is an example for an independent variable would be variable that is held constant throughout the experiment. An example is a theory that could extend a person’s life expectancy. The independent variable is the amount of vitamin given to the subject within the experiment. The dependent variable is the life span

The experimental study that I chose to write about is the Stanford Prison Experiment, which was run by Phillip Zimbardo. More than seventy applicants answered an ad looking for volunteers to participate in a study that tested the physiological effects of prison life. The volunteers were all given interviews and personality tests. The study was left with twenty-four male college students. For the experiment, eighteen volunteers took part, with the other volunteers being on call. The volunteers were then divided into two groups, guards and prisoners, randomly assigned by coin flips. The experiment began on August 14th, 1971 in the basement of Stanford’s psychology building. To create the prison cells for the prisoners, the doors were taken

| -They produce data on very specific, narrow topic i.e. the relationship between two variables-Experimenting on human beings in care situations raises difficult ethical issues (Moonie, Stretch, et al, 2003).-Participants usually know that they are in an experiment which may affect the behaviour they produce-It may be time consuming(Stanley, Boswell, et al, 2009).

6) This is an experiment because it is in a controlled environment where the variables and the situation are manipulated. The dependant variable is the preference of the participants. The

This essay examines the advantages and disadvantages of using a method primarily for gathering research on human subjects that can be examined for later use. It will give a basic outline of the methods of investigation, their uses and their suitability. I will also look at the scientific method as a whole and examine the criticisms of this method using the writings of Hume and Popper.

The study was experimental because: 1) the researchers did manipulate the independent variables, and 2) Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups.

The nature of the issues being investigated meant that controlled experiments couldn't be carried out. It would not be possible to separate children from their mothers in an experiment! Because control of variables was difficult, clear conclusions were difficult to draw. Other evidence from psychoanalytic case studies or from animal studies must also be interpreted very carefully.

Having random students being put to the test to see how far they will go just because someone is telling them to. Stanly went to an extreme psychological level, having his subjects administer seemingly harmful shocks of electricity to strangers. Hearing of the experiment the natural reaction is to think “how could someone do that to another person, thinking they are being harmed.” However you never know how you will react until you are in that situation.

Throughout this course I have learned many things about research at an introductory level. Research is a critical part of all of our lives in many ways. God blesses each of us with a degree of common sense and we all learn from observing others even as babies, we learned behaviors and skills by observing our parents. Walking through experiences throughout life teach us a lot we need to know as well but sometimes we have to take a better approach when we need to learn about certain things. Many of us know that what works in some situations or with certain individuals doesn’t always work or is the safest option for another situation. Controlled and precisely organized study allows scientists to compare and examine contrasting methods and concepts, also helps them to discover various approaches and be able to learn from individual’s behaviors and experiences. I will act as the case study throughout this paper in order to observe what I have learned about.

The objectivity of the scientific experiment has been met with mixed opinions and reaction in terms of the controversy raised over meaning and ethics of the experiment. In the experiment, the scientist discovered high levels of obedience among the individual and a large percentage of the participants continued administering the electric short because of the necessity to obey the authority. It is logical that psy-scientist do not recognize the experiment as an objective process because some of the assumptions made are relative. For instance, the participants could not be considered aggressive, but the majority of those were make, who

Hawthorne effect basically means those that are being observed for research will change the way they act (Zeisel 2006). Researchers involved in various projects need to understand that individuals will change the way they act if they know they are being observed. This can affect the data one receives so it is important to consider in data analysis. It is particularly important to understand such effect on the people that are being observed and mitigate the impact by being inconspicuous as possible and blending with the crowd when

Psychological research may be undertaken on a subset of society; however the importance of the results may have an effect way beyond the group tested. The value of psychological research varies and the same results can be used in different ways by different groups of society.

True experimental research design includes random selection and group assignment of participants, manipulation of variables and observing the effect that the manipulation has on the dependant variable to establish whether a cause and effect relationship is present between the variables (Follmer Greenhoot, 2003, pp. 92-93). An example of a commonly used true experimental research designs, are experiments used for testing the effects of new pharmaceuticals.