social influence

The line experiment-strength

P-A strength of Asch’s research is that it employed scientific methodology

E-Asch had considerable control over all variables in his study, i.e. the number of confederates in the room and the specific images used. Since the level of control is high, this also allows for standardised procedures, which can be replicated later to test the reliability of the findings

E-Furthermore, it also allows for the control of extraneous variables helping us infer strong cause and effect relationships in this experiment

L-Therefore, scientifically sound methodology allows us to be confident in the findings

The line experiment-limitation

P-A limitation of Asch’s research is that it employed an artificial situation and an artificial task

E-The group that naïve participants were part of is very different to the kind of group typically encountered in everyday life that we interact with and become familiar with (Fiske, 2014). Additionally, matching lines isn’t an everyday life experience and is quite insignificant compared to real life situations involving pressures to conform

E-Asch’s study may therefore only explain conformity in special circumstances that bear little similarity to real life

L-Therefore, Asch’s research lacks ecological validity and is unlikely to inform our understanding of conformity in everyday situations

The line experiment -limitation

P-A limitation of Asch’s research is that it lacks population validity

E-Asch used an all-male sample and there is evidence that women are more concerned about social relationships and being accepted than men (Neto). Also Asch never conducted research in collectivist cultures. Despite collectivist cultures tending to have higher levels of conformity because the focus is on the needs of the group rather than the individual (Smith and Bond)

E-Asch may have got vastly different conformity results if he used female participants as well, because women are potentially more conformist than males. Additionally, Asch may have got increased levels of conformity in collectivist cultures because the tendency is to focus on the group’s needs, which may encourage conformity as oppose to individuality

L-Therefore, Asch’s research lacks population validity and in turns this reduces the validity of Asch’s findings

The line-experiment-limitation

P-A limitation of Asch’s research is that it presents several ethical concerns

E-Asch’s naïve participants did not provide fully informed consent, because they were misled about key aspects of the experimental procedures

E-The naïve participants thought that the other participants involved in the group task were genuine participants like themselves, when in fact they were confederates. As a result, deception was an issue as participants did not know the true nature of the study

L-Therefore, Asch’s research into conformity presents some ethical issues that could reduce the credibility of the research

Asch’s variations-strength

P-One strength of Asch’s research is that it has supporting evidence

E-For example, Lucas et al. asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy or difficult. Students were more likely to give the wrong answer when the questions were difficult rather than when they were easy ones. This was especially true for students who rated their mathematical ability as poor

E-This is a strength because it as it supports Asch’s findings by providing further evidence

L-This therefore increases the validity of Asch’s research 

Aschs variation-limitation

  

P-A weakness of Asch’s research is that it relies on studies involved in highly artificial tasks 

E-The group that naïve participants were part of is very different to the kind of group typically encountered in everyday life that we interact with and become familiar with (Fiske, 2014). Additionally, matching lines isn’t an everyday life experience and is quite insignificant compared to real life situations involving pressures to conform

E-Asch’s study may therefore only explain conformity in special circumstances that bear little similarity to real life

L-Therefore, Asch’s research lacks ecological validity and is unlikely to inform our understanding of conformity in everyday situations

asch’s variation-limitation

P-A limitation of Asch’s research is that it lacks population validity

E-Asch used an all-male sample and there is evidence that women are more concerned about social relationships and being accepted than men (Neto). Also Asch never conducted research in collectivist cultures. Despite collectivist cultures tending to have higher levels of conformity because the focus is on the needs of the group rather than the individual (Smith and Bond)

E-Asch may have got vastly different conformity results if he used female participants as well, because women are potentially more conformist than males. Additionally, Asch may have got increased levels of conformity in collectivist cultures because the tendency is to focus on the group’s needs, which may encourage conformity as oppose to individuality

L-Therefore, Asch’s research lacks population validity and in turns this reduces the validity of Asch’s findings

Aschs variations-limitation

P-A limitation of Asch’s research is that his findings may lack temporal validity 

E-Asch’s studies were conducted during the 1950s. During this time in America, people were more likely to conform to social norms due to concerns about the rise in communism. Moreover, Perrin and Spencer repeated Asch’s study several decades later and found much lower rates of conformity compared to Asch’s original study (conformity was only found on only one trial out of 396 trials)

E-This is a limitation because it shows that Asch’s findings are not consistent across time and indicates that his conclusions about conformity and the variables that affect conformity may not apply to modern day behaviour

L-Thus, reduces the validity of Ash’s research into conformity 

milgram-strength

P-There is research to support the presence that an authority figure can have on obedience

E-For example, Hofling et al. studied obedience in a hospital. Nurses were asked by an authority figure to give a potentially dangerous dose of an unfamiliar drug to a patient. 95% of nurses (21 out of 22) followed this order

E-The nurses obeyed the order because they were asked to do so by a doctor who is an authority figure who is credible and legitimate

L-Therefore, this shows that Milgram’s research is supported by other research findings and in real life settings, Milgram’s findings have been shown to be valid

milgram-limitation

P-A weakness of Milgram’s research is that it is lacking population validity

E-Milgrams study used only 40 male participants from the USA

E-This means his sample was gender biased and unrepresentative of females and the general population. Therefore, the results cannot be applied to females or any other cultures because the sample consisted solely of Americans males. Additionally, collectivist cultures may have had lower levels of obedience because they care more about others

L-Therefore, this reduces the validity of Milgram’s research because his sample was lacking population validity

milgram-limitation

P-A limitation of Milgram’s research is that it may lack internal validity

E-Orne and Holland found that participants were ‘going along with the act’ when they administered the electric shocks. Participants didn’t really believe in the set up, they guessed it wasn’t real electric shocks

E-Participants may have been demonstrating unnatural behaviour because they knew that the electric shocks weren’t real. Thus they were not naturally obeying but instead choosing to co-operate. So, Milgram isn’t really measuring obedience which is what he intended to measure

L-Therefore, decreasing the internal validity of the study

milgram-limitation

P-A limitation of Milgram’s study is that it has several ethical concerns

E-Milgram’s study contained deception because participants were deceived on the purpose of the study, which questions the extent to which correct informed consent was obtained. The right to withdraw wasn’t really provided to participants because they were given verbal prompts to make them stay. Additionally, participants were subjected to psychological harm, because they were exposed to extremely stressful situations

E-These ethical concerns present in Milgram’s research question the credibility of such research

L-Therefore, reducing the validity of Milgram’s findings