Outline and Evaluate research in to Obedience

It was found that 100% of participants went to at least 300 volts and 65% of participants went the whole way to 450 volts. It was clear that most of the participants found the experiment a stressful experience with some showing signs of high anxiety, yet they carried on with the experiment.

The fact that the participants were deceived and fully informed consent was not obtained naturally presents ethical issues but in doing so reduces the likelihood of demand characteristics. Yet despite this it can be argued that demand characteristics might have had an effect on participants. It is possible that they might have caught on to what was being researched. Although opposing this if participants had an inkling on what was really being researched then they would have realised that the ‘shocks’ would have no consequence and therefore go all the way to 450 with no problem. Alternatively, they could give no shocks at all, as they would not want to be shown through the research as the type of person who would on command, give shocks to a person of 450 volts.

Milgram’s study has very low Population Validity. This is due to the fact the research was not only ethnocentric, by it being carried out in America, which makes it culture bound, but andocentric too because the participants were all male. In addition to this, the sample was obtained through volunteers. This can serve as an indication of the type of people the participants were; helpful and willing to be of assistance. Considering the research was based around obedience, it could be argued that this type of person would be more likely to be the type of person that would obey. This lowers the population validity even further.

It can be argued that Milgram’s study has internal validity because it was controlled and for this reason the reliability of the study can be assessed because the research is replicable. Other studies carried out in the 1960s yielded similar results, yet all of this research is potentially historically biased, seeing as society has changed a great deal since then. The research could also not be replicated today due to the ethical guidelines that have now been put in place. In addition to this a quantifiable operationalised measure of obedience was used (dosage of volts was increased in 15 volt intervals).

There has been more research into obedience such as Hofling et al in 1966. In a field experiment set in a hospital Hofling researched into whether the nurses at the hospital would accept orders from a fake doctor. 22 Nurses who worked alone in wards at different hospitals were rung by a man introduced as ‘Dr Smith’. Dr. Smith instructed each nurse to check the drug cupboard for a drug under the name of Astrogen, preceding this they were told to give a dose of 20 milligrams of the drug to a patient on their ward. Doing so would break several rules of the hospital and despite there being no doctor of the name Smith at the hospital 21 out of 22 of the nurses complied to the instruction. Each nurse was intercepted by a confederate and debriefed before any harm was done.

Like Milgram this study showed high levels of obedience from the participants, yet similarly there were flaws to the research. For instance having being carried out in the 1960s, Hofling’s research is arguable historically biased; medical standards have increased a huge amount since the research was carried out and policies on administering drugs have no doubt become stricter. However, the reliability of the study cannot be assessed in modern day society due to the fact it was a field experiment yet also because of the ethical guidelines that are now in place. The reliability of the research is questioned in the results of similar experiments as they presented hugely different findings. Not only is Hofling’s research arguably historically biased it is potentially culturally biased too. Having been carried out in the west, the laws of medicine could be hugely different to the laws in other countries.