Unit 2 – Kohlberg, L. (1968). The child as a moral philosopher (evaluation)

Why is Kohlberg’s research being universal a strength?

It provides him with cross-culture comparability and makes his research generalisable, meaning there is high external validity.

Why is Kohlberg’s research being longitudinal a strength?

It allows us to observe the development of participants’ morals over time.

Why is Kohlberg’s research being androcentric a limitation?

He only researched males, meaning the study is ungeneralisable and lacks external validity as it cannot be generalised to the female population.

Why is Kohlberg’s research being cross-sectional a limitation?

Kohlberg often recruited new participants upon return to a country rather than reconnecting with old participants, reducing internal reliability and converting the experimental design from a repeated measures design to an independent groups design in some cases.

Why is Kohlberg’s research being hypothetical a limitation?

Participants may have answered in a socially desirable way or displayed demand characteristics due to the repeated measures design resulting in order effects, reducing internal validity. This also results in low external validity as it is not representative of real life.

Why is Kohlberg’s research being subjective a limitation?

It may face researcher bias.

Why is Kohlberg’s research ethically challenged a limitation?

It may have caused psychological harm where participants faced frightening dilemmas. He also used vulnerable individuals (children) who could not officially provide valid-informed consent.