Validity within experiments
EXPERIMENTAL VALIDITYValidity is used to measure the overall legitimacy of an experiment and is used to establish the effictiveness of results gained from research. Experimental validity looks at the factors which can effect results. Studies will be refered to as having either high or low experimental validity.
INTERNAL VALIDITYInternal validity concerns everything that happens within that experiment and looks at if the results found were influenced in any way by any of the variables mentioned here.
We can improve an experiments internal validity by imputting control while eliminating possible demand characteristics. |
ECOLOGICAL VALIDITYEcological validity looks at what extent an experiment and its findings can be generalised towards real-life situations. Experiments with high ecological validity are usually the ones where the experimenter imputs a lot of control making for a less generalisable study.
External ValidityExternal validity concerns what happens outside the experiment and how far it can be generalised beyond the experimental setting (Caldwell, 2005). Generalising an experiment means looking at it from other points such as from an historical aspect or a different setting/location involving different people and so forth. Improving an experiments external validity is done by using more naturalistic environments or making sampling random.
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Milgrams study of obedience (1963)
Summary
Stanley Milgram was a Psychologist at Yale University which is where he carried out his experiment. Milgrams original hypothesis was to test the degree of pain an individual is willing to inflict upon another individual just because he was ordered by an authority figure (Milgram, 1974).
He carried this out by advertising a need for participants for a memory test, where the learner is to answer questions given to them by the teacher where a wrong answer would result in an electric shock also administered from the teacher. Milgram fixed the drawing process so that the teacher would always be the participants; unbeknown to them, the shocks they were giving were fake. During his study he found 65% of participants went to the maximum voltage of 450, which is enough to kill another person. |
Validity in milgrams experiment
INTERNAL VALIDITY
EXTERNAL VALIDITY ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY EXPERIMENTAL VALIDITY |
A strength of Milgrams experiment can be his high internal validity due to the amount of control he had throughout his experiment.
With high internal validity; comes low external validity. The high control can be seen as too articifical and thus less relateable to outside situations. The act of administering shocks on another person is fortunately, not something we do in every-day situations therefore lacking the ecological validity. Milgrams experiment was low in experimental validity due to the aspect of demand characteristics being introduced. This was done on several occasions, from the clothing experimenters were wearing, to the intimidating verbal prompts used. |
Did milgram follow the bps code - Looking at Milgram's study from todays ethical standards shows many flaws in his experiment.
Informed Consent
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The BPS states that participants must be made aware of what is involved in the proposed research in advance. Although participants willingly replied to a paid advertisement (see right) they were however not correctly informed on the true nature of the study.
Researchers should also mention any forseeable risks that may occur throughout the study. Milgram however was oblivious to harm and infact did not believe his study would reach such extremes. |
Public Advertisement in relation to Milgrams Experiment (Gross, 2015, p448)
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Debrief
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Milgram did succeed in ensuring participants were fully debriefed after the experiment and reunited with the unharmed learners. He also explained the true nature of his experiment to them and also continued with follow-ups on participants to ensure no signs of long term harm were prevelent.
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Protection of Participants
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Viewing footage of Milgrams experiment, it is clear to see the discomfort and distress places upon participants. In fact three participants had uncontrollable seizures and Milgram himself did not foresee the effects of his study; he said “In a large number of cases the degrees of tension reached extremes that are rarely seen in socio-psychological laboratory studies” (Hill, 2001, p.195).
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Deception
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Deception was a huge factor within this experiment. From the offset Milgram made participants believe they were involved in a memory test and not an obedience test. . Milgram convinced participants they would be directly harming another person, going as far as recording verbal pain reaction he would play once a shock had been administered. He then rigged the experiment so participants were always in the position he wanted them to be without their knowledge.
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Confidentiality
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Milgram formerly asked participants if they consented to the results found and got their permission for them to be published.
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Right to Withdraw
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Participants were told at the beginning of the experiment that they could withdraw at any time and the money paid for participating would be theirs regardless. However, he would often use verbal prompts to discourage the teacher from withdrawing, some of them particularly threatening such as 'You have no other choice, you must go on'. Undoubtedly causing confusion for participants and putting social pressure on the situation.
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