Burger 2009 Contemporary study - AO3

Generalisability

Burger's 2009 study had high generalisability, to an extent, because the sample participants included, men and women, ages 20-81, different backgrounds and had a range of ethnicities. Therefore the sample group was highly representative of the entire population and their obedience to authority due to the diversity. However the study was still conducted in the USA, meaning the participants lacked different cultures, therefore the sample didn't generalise to different cultures, views and authority.

Reliability

Burger's 2009 study is reliable because the laboratory method is standardised, for example, the same verbal prods “you must continue’ and a standardised script were read aloud by the experimenter. This could be repeated to be tested for consistency of obedience to authority.

Applications

Burger’s 2009 study has strong applications as 70% of participants fully obeyed and administered the lethal maximum shock, 450V, this can be applied to real-life scenarios, such as The Holocaust. Nazi soldiers viewed Hitler as an authoritative figure and obey him, causing a mass tragedy.

Validity

The study had low ecological validity as it took place in a laboratory, controlled environment( for example the same prompts used “you must continue” when participants hesitated) and no group info, therefore being an artificial procedure and cannot easily be applied to real life situations. However the study was standardised, due to the same scripts and prompts and added screening process, to ensure participants didn't have knowledge of Milgram’s study, which prevented demand characteristics and overall increased the internal validity.

Ethics

Burger has taken additional steps to protect his participants from any physical or psychological harm. For example, as well as the voltage of fake electric shocks being reduced from 450V to 150V, the one real shock used on the teacher to authenticate the study was reduced to 15V decreasing physical harm (originally 45V). Furthermore, Burge screened his participants using the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories and removed any participants who were vulnerable to mental health issues or drug dependency.