The advantages of using lab experiments are that they are highly reliable because they can be repeated several times with the same results. This is because the original experimenter can specify exactly which steps were followed, so it can be repeated in the future. It is also a detached method so the researcher only manipulates the variables and records the results. This eliminates the chances of the scientists views and own beliefs influencing the results. Using lab experiments are the least popular form of experiments with sociologists as they present them with ethical problems. This is because people object to being studied and often pull out or don’t volunteer to do the experiment. Experiments are often only performed on prisoners or students which means a wide view is not obtained. In 1962 Bandura conducted an experiment on four groups of children to study the effect viewing violence has on children’s behaviour. He found that the groups who had viewed the violent film, cartoons or television were more violent in play than the group who hadn’t viewed any violent activity. This study raises ethical problems because the children may have been affected by seeing the violence that involved a self-righting doll being attacked with mallets. Lab experiments do not reflect what is going on in the real world as they often undertaken in controlled environments.
Field experiments are more valid than lab experiments because they are undertaken in the real world. Brown and Gay’s experiments to test discrimination have provided some valuable insights. They asked people from different ethnic backgrounds with equal qualifications and experience to apply for jobs. Ninety percent of whites got a positive response compared with only sixty three percent of Asians and Afro Caribbean’s.
There are similar ethical problems to those of lab experiments and in some cases they can be considered more serious. An example of this is Taitt’s experiments into the treatment of breast cancer. There are also concerns about controlling variables. Sociologists can’t control events and there is no guarantee that those being studied will do as the researcher expects. In the Brown and Gay study employers may have been affected by the applicant’s address rather than there ethnicity.
Another example of not being able to control events is Sissons study into social class where he pretended to be a businessman. Respondents may have been judging his acting skills rather than his class.
In both field and lab experiments the Hawthorne effect can occur where those who the subject of the experiment knows they are being studied and therefore behave differently.
Experiments are considered an important part of science, however scientists always do not regard sociology as being scientific as it does not rely purely on experiments. Positivists claim that their approach is scientific as it uses cause and effect.
The interpretivists reject the use of lab experiments but do use field experiments to look at things like the self-fulfilling prophecy. For example Rosenthal and Jacobson studied Pygmalion in the classroom that involved the study of self-fulfilling prophecies. The teachers tested the children’s IQ then put the children into sets at random and told the pupils that they were set by ability. Those children the top sets improved their IQ where as the children in the bottom sets made no improvement or their IQ was lower than it was at the start of the test.
Overall, experiments have a useful part to play in the study of sociology. Field experiments are more viable and relevant than lab experiments. Sociology uses a variety of research methods and approaches to support its work but experiments can only be a part. If experiments are used it is important to understand the variables and factors which might affect the results as well as the ethics.
