Examine the reasons why some sociologists choose not to use experiments when conducting research

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        3/21/2012 4:39 PM Examine the reasons why some sociologists choose not to use experiments when conducting research.                                                          In scientific research, an experiment is a method of investigating causal 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. There are three types of experimental methods that sociologists may use in their research,Firstly, sociologists use laboratory experiments. Once a Laboratory experiment has been conducted other scientists can replicate it. This makes laboratory experiments highly reliable as they are replicable. The laboratory experiment has major advantages as the method can be used to establish cause and effect relationships. For
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this reasons positivist sociologists use laboratory experiments as they favour a more scientific method. Positivist sociologists however also acknowledge the short comings of laboratory experiments, such as, it is often impossible or unethical to control the variables. Also their small scale means that results may not be representative or generalisable to the wider population. On the other hand interpretivists reject  the laboratory experiments because it fails to achieve their main goal of validity. It is an artificial environment producing unnatural behavior.Drifting away from the advantages, There are various practical problems with laboratory experiments. Society is very complex and in practice ...

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