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EXPERIMENTAL METHOD - Coggle Diagram
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
Natural experiment
- The IV is naturally occurring e.g. gender, privation etc
Not ‘true’ experiments as IV is not manipulated
- The experimenter does not directly manipulate the IV
- An experiment carried out usually in the field
Quick natural experiment
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IV = no TV and later exposure to TV
IV WAS NOT CONTROLLED BY RESEACHERS – THEY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF A NATURALLY OCCURING EVENT THAT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO CONTROL
Strengths
- More ethical: participants are not manipulated as much
- Allows research where IV can’t be manipulated e.g. gender, privation
- Participants in natural environment, so findings likely to represent what you’d usually find in a real life setting: More ecological validity.
- Avoid demand characteristics
Weaknesses
- Cannot demonstrate causal relationships because IV not manipulated and no random allocation to groups
- Have to wait for IV to occur naturally or for participants with the characteristics of the IV to be available
- Many confounding variables
Quasi- experiment
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- IV is naturally occurring and DV may be measured in a lab
- IV has not been made to vary by anyone – it is simply a difference between people that exists e.g. gender
Example
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- Tested obedience to give electric shocks of increasing strength to a puppy
- Males = 54% went to maximum shock
- Women= 100% went to maximum shocj
- IV = gender, not manipulated and therefore not a ‘true’ IV
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Weaknesses
- Confounding environmental variables are more likely = less reliable
- Must wait for the IV to occur
- Can only be used where conditions vary naturally
- Aware they are studied = less internal validity