field experiments

what are field experiments?

studies that aim to establish a cause and effect relationship between an IV (which is changed by the researcher) and a DV (which is measured). they are conducted outside the laboratory in real-life environments or situations. for example, they might take place in the street, in a workplace, at school or in a hospital

2 advantages of a field experiment

high ecological validity, low demand characteristics

high ecological validity

this means that the research takes place in a real-life setting so it should reflect the participants’ natural behaviour. for example, participants are studied in the setting where the behaviour being measured usually occurs and so should not act unnaturally like they might do if they were in the artificial simulated conditions of a laboratory. this is positive because the findings cannot be generalised to other real-life settings

low demand characteristics

this means that, because the research does not take place in the scientific setting of the laboratory, the participants are usually unaware they are taking part in research. for example, participants will not be able to work out the aim of the research and start behaving differently. this is positive because it means that the study is measuring their true behaviour which increases the study’s internal validity

2 disadvantages of a field experiment

low degree of control over variables, difficult to replicate

low degree of control over variables

this means that the research is conducted outside controlled setting of a laboratory which makes it difficult for extraneous variables to be controlled. for example, the lighting, temperature and noise levels cannot be standardised and therefore may vary between conditions. this is a weakness because the research will not be able to only measure what it intends to measure giving it low internal validity

difficult to replicate

this means that the conditions used for one study will be very difficult to repeat in exactly the same way in future replications of the study. for example, the noise levels, lighting and temperature may vary a lot every time each time it is repeated. this is a problem as it means the findings cannot be very easily tested for reliability (i.e. consistency)