The lab experiment can also be said to be unrepresentative because it is mostly a study on small scale. This does not represent everyone in the group therefore it is impossible to generalise. Also the participants know they are being studied leading to the Hawthorne effect as they may change their behaviour. A practical problem of laboratory experiments is that it is impossible to control all the variables. This is because society is very complex making it hard to
Examine the reasons why some sociologists choose not to use experiments when conducting research: Experiments can take the form of lab experiments (conducted in a controlled environment), field experiments (conducted in a natural setting where the independent variable and dependant variable are still observed), and the comparative method (a ‘thought experiment’, carried out in the researcher’s mind). There are many disadvantages to using laboratory experiments. Representativeness is very hard to achieve using this method as it is usually only done using small study samples. Another issue is ethical objections to conducting experiments on human beings. Obtaining informed consent from participants who are children or have learning difficulties may be difficult.
6. People are too different from the subjects of natural scientific research. So many of the advantages of the scientific method are not applicable to the traditional scientific approach - for example, replication and control. Conclusion Generally, the methods of traditional science have either been radically adapted by sociologists so that they can still be used - the comparative method, structured questionnaires, or totally rejected - interpretive Sociology. Scientific research has been important in generating debate in Sociology as to how
The reason for having a hypothesis-based scientific study is because we do not know the outcome of something. It is similar to many everyday problems in that they are problems because they have not been solved yet, however, a hypothesis-based experiment is different from solving an everyday problem because we do not necessarily have to spend time doing an experiment on everyday outcomes. Some problems are easily solved because we know how they happened and how to fix them. For example, my kids can mix a chemical together and I know to poor it out right away or take it away from them. I do not need to do an experiment on them to know that chemicals are not safe for children.
In particular, Siffre’s study was a case study, which focused on one individual person. Therefore, the results can’t be generalised to the wider population, as it doesn’t account for individual differences. (AO3) • Another weakness is that Siffre’s study only accounts for biological influences on the circadian rhythm and so only represents the nature side of the nature-nurture debate. This provides an unrealistic view of human behaviour because in real life both nature and nurture
Examine the reasons why some sociologists choose not to use experiments when conducting research- 20 marks In scientific research, an experiment is a method of investigating casual relationships among variables, or to test a hypothesis. The ability of establishing this relationship is why some sociologists, such as positivists, favour this method of research. These are three types of experimental methods that sociologists ay use in their research. The first type of experiments that sociologists use are lab experiments, and these are an artificial environment in which scientists can control all the different variables to see the effect that they have. A practical strength of lab experiments is that they favour science approaches, however controlling all of the possible variables can be difficult and it can’t always be done.
The findings appear to determine no new findings, they are simply correlational. The behaviours may not have been imported as a coping mechanism, but simply because that is the way these people behave wherever they are. This research is also difficult to generalise as it concerns only males in US prisons. This leads into a criticism of the research for gender bias. The theory may however be applicable in other environments where an individual is new to it.
On the other hand, reflective knowledge is internalist knowledge. It is acquired by reflecting on the principles that underlie animal knowledge. Those who have this knowledge are consciously aware of the conditions that produced it. Gettier’s case can be evaluated as not being true knowledge. Because Smith does not have intellectual knowledge about Jones owing a Ford or Brown is in Barcelona.
It is difficult for the researcher to observe everyone. Decisions have to be made about who to observe and when to observe them; significant evidence may be missed, leading to invalid interpretations of the group's behavior. Involvement with a group may be too superficial, given that one of th epuposes of participant observation is to experience the world from the viewpoint of the people being studied. If th eresearcher does not become sufficiently involved with the group then this type of data might not be collected. An example might be observation of a group involved in criminal activities.
Isolation would not make the citizens happy because some countries do not have all the appropriate resources to live comfortably in a modern world. For example, there is North Korea. This country is completely isolated from the rest of the world, and the citizens are often forced to do things they do not want to do. They must "worship" the country's leader and will get serious punishment if they get caught saying bad thing about him, not following other rules, etc. The citizens do not get the appropriate health care either because they do not have access to experienced doctor's from other countries.