Lab Experiments

What does a lab experiment involve?

Involves the manipulation of variables in a controlled environment to establish causal relationships, carried out in a laboratory

What two groups are used in a lab experiment?

An experimental group and a control group

What is the experimental group?

The group exposed to the independent variable

What is the control group?

The group not exposed to the independent variable in order to see its effects on the experimental group

What is the independent variable?

The variable that is manipulated

What is the dependent variable?

The variable that is being measured

Why do positivists favour lab experiments?

Lab experiments are seen as more scientific, as you can discover what shapes human behaviour and predict future behaviour

How are lab experiments reliable?

Lab experiments can be repeated in the same condition and achieve the same results as they are carried out in a controlled environment

How can lab experiments be low in validity?

Lab experiments are carried out in an artificial environment, not a real social setting; not all variables that affect results can be controlled; Hawthorne effect as people are aware of being studied

How can lab experiments be unrepresentative?

Lab experiments usually have small samples so it is hard to generalise findings

How can lab experiments be unethical?

There is a higher chance of psychological or physiological harm caused to participants than other methods since they actively participate in an activity

How do interpretivists criticise lab experiments?

Lab experiments are unsuitable for studying human behaviour as we have free will and don't react to situations in the same way

How are lab experiments ethical in the context of education?

There are few ethical issues with lab experiments in education as you can do them without using students

How are lab experiments higher in validity in the context of education?

Lab experiments allow the researcher to isolate one variable which may affect teacher labels, increasing validity

How can lab experiments be unethical in the context of education?

Ethical issues can occur in lab experiments if real students are used and harmed in some way; may be difficult to obtain informed consent

How can lab experiments be lower in validity in the context of education?

Validity may be low as isolating one variable affecting educational achievement doesn't look at how it interacts with other variables; impossible to study the impact of large scale processes in a lab setting