Good external validity
Strength
Most of the observations (apart from stranger anxiety) were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to researchers
Meaning babies weren’t distracted from researchers reporting live observations
Means that it is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally whilst being observed
Counterpoint to external validity
Issues surrounding the mothers being ‘observers’
They were unlikely to be objective observers
Might have been biased in what they noticed / reported
I.e not noticing when their baby was showing anxiety
Means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded
Poor evidence for the asocial stage
Limitation
Lack of validity in the measuring of attachment in the asocial stage
Young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile
Babies less than two months old may be displaying subtle anxiety or hard to observe
Made it difficult for mothers to observe and report on signs of anxiety / attachment in this age group
Means that the babies may actually be quite social but because of flawed methods, appear to be asocial
Real-world application
Strength
Practical application in day care
In asocial and discriminate attachment stages day care is likely to be straightforward and can be comforted by anyone
However, Schaffer and Emerson’s research tells us day care may be problematic during the specific attachment stage
This means that parents’ use of day care can be planned using the stages of attachment
Generalisability
Only looked at one sample which had unique features in social and historical context (1960s working-class Glasgow)
Hard to generalise as in other cultures, such as collectivist cultures, multiple attachments form from a very early (van Ijzendoorm 1993)