Outline the strengths and weaknesses of the social approach .

Outline the strengths and weaknesses of the social approach (12 marks)

The first strength of the social approach is it utilises experimental methods. Experimental methods manipulate one variable to see the effect it has on another variable. This allows for cause and effect to be established. The social approach can therefore be seen as being scientific. An example of a social study that uses a field experiment method is the Piliavin et al subway study on bystander behaviour in emergency situations. This study manipulated a number of variables including race of the victim. It then recorded if passengers on the tram helped the victim and how long it took for them to help. Whilst using experimental methods makes the approach scientific, on the other hand this strength can be seen as a small weakness as it is very reductionist. Reductionist methods only try to identify one cause for a behaviour occurring. This is a weakness as the social approach’s theories may be based on incomplete evidence as the studies may have missed some causes of behaviour e.g. affect of physiology in obedience.

This is a preview of the whole essay

The second strength of the social approach is social studies have important applications to everyday life. Social psychology studies prejudice conformity and obedience; these are real factors that influence how people in everyday social situations. An anecdotal example from life is the affect that obedience had upon German men during World War 2 and the extermination of 6 million Jews. This is a strength because it shows that psychology is relevant to real people meaning psychological research has justification to be conducted. An example of a social study that shows the social approaches applications to everyday life is the Piliavin et al study (1969) on the influences on bystander behaviour. In this study participant helping behaviour was observed and it was identified that helping was based on a cost reward decision making process. From this a heuristic (general strategy) can be formed to identify when an individual will help in an emergency; this can be used to identify the likelihood of people helping in situations such as terrorist attacks and car accidents.

The first weakness of the social approach is research has ethical issues, particularly protection from harm. Protection from harm means that any individual who is a participant from research should be protected from any harm both physical and mental they would not be subject to in their everyday life. This is a weakness as future social research may not be allowed as it may harm those who participate in it. An example of a social study that has ethical issues of protection from harm is the Milgram study (1968) on obedience to authority figures. In this study participants showed signs of psychological and emotional stress due to the task they were asked to do (electrocute participants who failed to answer questions correctly). One individual even had a seizure.

The second weakness of the social approach is samples can often be unrepresentative of the wider population. This means that the sample is biased in someway to a particular type of person. This is a weakness because Social approach research findings cannot be generalised to every person in the population if this is the case. An example of a social study that suffers from this problem is the Reicher and Haslam (2002) study on group identity and role acceptance. Of the 332 volunteers only 15 were used. All of these participants were male. As the number is statistically small (less than 30 is not significant) and there were only male participants used, the sample cannot be generalised to the wider population, and in particular females.

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

sydneyhopcroft

11th of Sep 2012

Quality of writing

The Quality of Written Communication is very good. From both an English and a Psychology perspective the candidate demonstrates excellent control over their use of language, incorporating specialist terms where appropriate. There is no cause for concern when it comes to grammar, punctuation or spelling.

Level of analysis

The Level of Analysis is exceptional. The answer is perceptive and tightly succinct and shows a diverse range of knowledge of the social approach in psychology. The examples given are relevant and nicely cited, showing an adeptness in evaluating psychological evidence, which naturally encourages a stronger essay due to this. Though the answer may seem prescriptive, given the exam requirements and allotted time to complete them in, this is actually a very nicely-written essay. There is just the right amount of information, which is all wonderfully presented with confidence and knowledge.

Response to question

This may seem like a very prescriptive essay worthy of criticism for the lack of introduction and conclusion, but OCR G542 questions on strengths and weaknesses of psychological approaches do not require them. Therefore, this answer includes everything and more that is required of a candidate taking AS Psychology. There is a fairly balanced discussion into the evaluation of the social approach, with two strengths and two weakness, and an integrated weakness in the first paragraph. I would suggest an integrated strength to balance it out, or maybe dropping the comments about reductionism. Examiners would prefer the former because the candidate would then show glimpses of A2 knowledge by discussing reductionism by way of integration - something quite remarkable at AS.

Did you find this review helpful? Join our team of reviewers and help other students learn