Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

EDEXCEL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
FOR A LEVEL

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Milgram’s study of obedience……………………………………………………………………………………2
Agency theory……………………………………………………………………………………………………………5
Social impact theory…………………………………………………………………………………………………
...
9
Burgers (2009): Replicating Milgram: would people still obey? …………………………
...
………13
Realistic conflict theory (Sherif 1996) ………………………………………………………………………
...
……………17
Qualitative and quantitative ……………………………………………………………………………………
...
21
Calculating standard deviation ……………………………………………………………………
...
24
Example questionnaire ……………………………………………………………………………………
...
He also wanted to see if the participants would deliver electric
shocks to a confederate which would be powerful enough to kill them
...
The participants were met by the research and another
‘volunteer’ who was in fact an actor employed by Milgram
...
This was rigged to always make the
confederate the leaner
...
The teacher then feels an
electric shock of 45V
...
The
participant would administer an electric shock every time the learner made a mistake, increasing the
level of shock each time by 15V
...
The
experimenter had a set of “pre-scripted” prods which were to be said if the teacher questioned or
refused any of the order
...
If all 4 prods were used, then the
observation stopped
...
65% of the participants had gone up to the
maximum of 450 volts
...
He observed the participants sweating, trembling, stuttering
and groaning
...

Milgram concluded that his study shows the power of authority over our behaviour
...


STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Generalisability – the sample consisted of all males and so the results cannot be generalised to
women
...

Several cross-cultural variations on Milgram’s study have been conducted and all of them show high
levels of obedience
...
g
...


3

Reliability – the study uses standardised procedures which can be replicated so the study achieves
reliability
...
The study also gives a better
understanding of obedience so tragedies like WW2 could be prevented
...

Validity- Milgram’s study has been criticised for lacking ecological validity because the task is
artificial – in real life, teachers are not asked to deliver electric shocks to learners
...

Ethical issues - The main criticism is that participants’ wellbeing was ignored: they were deceived
(about the shocks) and did not give informed consent (they were told it was a memory test, not an
obedience test)
...


4

AGENCY THEORY
THE AGENCY THEORY
Milgram explained the behaviour of his participants by suggesting that people have two states of
behaviour when there are in a social situation
...


FOR A PERSON TO ENTER AGENTIC STATE
Milgram suggested for a person to enter agentic state the person giving the orders is perceived as
being qualified to direct another people’s behaviour

THE AUTONOMOUS STATE
In this state the individual directs their own actions and they take responsibility for the results of
those actions
...
They believe
that the authoritative figure giving orders is the one responsible for their actions, so the individual
does not feel guilt
...

This is supported by Milgram’s study:
-

Participants were reminded that they had responsibility for their own actions, and so almost
none of them were prepared to obey
...


MORAL STRAIN
When an authoritative figure issues an order which goes against our conscience, we experience
moral strain
...


5

STRENGTHS OF THE THEORY
The theory offers a credible explanation for obedience
...

Hofling et al: this is a field experiment which supports this theory
...

Meeus and Raaijmakers: they found that participants would obey an authoritative figure and give
negative remarks to someone they thought was a job applicant
...


WEAKNESSES OF THE THEORY
Agency theory is more of a description of how society works than an explanation
...
The theory says that people are agents of
others in society because that is the way society works, and natural selection means that people
have evolved to obey those in ‘higher’ positions
...
Other than it is a claim
that makes sense
...
For example, in Milgram study it
did not explain the 35% of participants that did not obey and give the electric shocks
...
Bibb Latane
(1981) had looked at attitudes and the impact of others on an individual’s attitudes, social impact
theory is about how we are affected by our social environment and the variety of opinions we
encounter as social beings
...
A social force is a pressure that
gets put on people to change their behaviour – if it succeeds, that is social impact
...
Social force is
made up of Strength, Immediacy, and Numbers
...
For example, if the
person has rank in an organisation, their order will have more strength
Immediacy: this is how recent that influence is and how close it is to you
...

Number of people in the environment: the more people putting pressure on you to do something
the more social force they will have
...


HOW THE THEORY LINKS TO OBEDIENCE
social impact theory is a good theory to apply to obedience as it in-cooperates various factors about
obedience, such as why people might obey group orders, more than order from an individual and
why their obedience might be affected if they have someone else on their side
...


STRENGTHS OF THE THEORY
Social Impact Theory is credible because studies back it up
...
Large groups of visitors were more likely to disobey, which shows division of impact
...
You could use it to work out exactly how likely
someone is to disobey in any situation
...

Social Impact Theory is much more complex than Agency Theory
...
However, Agency Theory includes
some things that Social Impact Theory ignores, such as moral strain
...


WEAKNESSES OF THE THEORY
The theory is more descriptive than explanatory as it does not explain why people are influenced by
others but only under what conditions they are more likely to be influenced
...
It could be that some people are more easily
persuaded than others
...

The theory can’t predict what might happen to two exact groups of the same authority
...
In the context of independent behaviour, they are personal factors that make some people
more able to resist pressures to conform or obey than others
...

Rotter (1966) introduced the concept of locus of control as a type of personality
...

Rotter argues that everyone is on a continuum between strong external locus of control and strong
internal locus of control
...

Holland (1967) used Milgram’s electric shock procedure to investigate the link between locus of
control and obedience but found no relationship
...


SITUTATION
Milgram’s work suggests that situation affects obedience rather than obedience being due to
individual differences
...

Proximity – in variation #7 Milgram found that when orders were given over the phone by the
experimenter the obedience dropped from 65% (original experiment) to 22
...
5% but Milgram has said that location is
much less important than the physical presence of the authority figure
Si as the situation changes in Milgram’s variation, so did the obedience levels, even though the
procedure was the same
...

These studies are experiments which were carried out in an artificial setting therefore they lack
ecological validity
...
Individual cultures emphasize the importance of personal freedom
and independence
...

If a conclusion is to be drawn about the effects of culture, then studies in different cultures need to
have the same procedure, including controls, otherwise it is not possible to tell whether any
difference are down to culture or other differences in the studies
...


10

BURGER 2009
AIM
The aim of the study was to replicate Milgram’s findings and to see whether people would still obey
today but under more ethical conditions

SAMPLE
There were 70 participants used and were a mixture of men and women
...
Their ages ranged from 2081
Burger had screened out volunteers if they had heard of Milgram’s original experiment, or if they
had studied psychology for more than 2 years
...
He also had the experimenter administer
a very mild 15V shock to the participants (with their consent) so they could see that the generator
was real
...
The participant/teacher watches the learner being strapped into
the electric chair and then sits at the shock generator in an adjacent room
...
If the answer is
wrong, the experimenter directs the teacher to deliver a shock, starting at 15V and going up in 15V
intervals
...
At 75V the learner starts making sounds of pain
...

If the teacher moves to deliver the 165V shock, the experimenter stops the experiment
...
This
teacher delivers the shocks, with the naïve participant watching
...
” He refuses to go on and the
experimenter tells the naïve participant to take over delivering the shocks
...
5% in Milgram’s variation #5 which included the learner complaining about a
heart condition
...
Women were
slightly less likely to obey in the “model refusal” condition but this was not statistically significant
...
There was a two-step
screening process to filter out anyone who might be unduly stressed by the experience
...
The experimenter was also a clinical psychologist who was an expert in spotting and
reacting appropriately to distress
...

Burger used a large sample his sample also consisted of males and females which makes it easier to
generalise the results
...

In other ways, the study is valid
...


WEAKNESSES OF THE STUDY
The study lacks ecological validity as it involved an artificial situation
...
Perhaps participants who were prepared to go to 165V
would still have dropped out later
...
The “model refusal” group might have had second thoughts as the shocks got stronger
...
This happens in 3 stages
...
It triggers stereotypical beliefs you
may have about groups
...


SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION
This is the process of moving from categorising oneself as art of the in-group to identifying with the
group more overly
...
You may emphasize
this by wearing clothes
...


SOCIAL COMPARISON
Once we have categorized ourselves as part of a group and have identified with that group we then
tend to compare that group with other groups
...

This is critical to understanding prejudice, because once two groups identify themselves as rivals,
they are forced to compete in order for the members to maintain their self-esteem
...


TAJFEL ET AL
The most famous research into SIT was carried out by Tajfel et al
...
These experiments were
known as “Minimal Groups” studies
...


13

WEAKNESSES OF THE THEORY
Minimal group research has been criticized for artificiality
...

This could limit the predictive value of the theory
...
g
...

The theory describes the process but does not accurately predict human behavior
...

Societal constraints such as poverty, as well as cultural expectations etc
...
His study
had used controls therefore cause-and-effect conclusions could be drawn which ass to the scientific
credibility of the theory
...

Explanation for stereotyping and discrimination
...
So, if 2 groups want the same thing but only one groups can have it, conflict will arise
...


JOHN DUCKITT (1994)
John Duckitt (1994) argues there are two types of realistic conflict, depending on whether or not the
two groups have equal power
...
Sometimes an in-group will be in conflict with an outgroup that has low status
and isn’t a real threat
...
The dominated group
might accept their inferior status or might resent it
...


SUPERORDINATE GOALS
Prejudice can be reduced when groups have to work together to solve a problem
...

Superordinate goals help to reduce prejudice
...
Testosterone and
upbringing might make schoolboys especially likely to form tribes and be competitive
...

However, evidence from Sherif's own writings about the experiments indicate that the groups of
boys were becoming hostile towards each other before the introduction of organized competitive
events
...
However, this correlative evidence
only shows a link between these factors, other factors could be involved in prejudice and it also
offers no cause-and-effect conclusion therefore scientific credibility is low

15

STRENGTHS OF THE THEORY
There’s a lot of research in support of Realistic Conflict, especially the “Robbers Cave” study and also
a lot of attitude surveys like the Michigan National Election Studies
...

The study is high in ecological validity as it is based on a summer camp and involves activities
commonly carried out in these camps, which strengthens the results
...
Therefore, RCT can be applied to real life by helping reduce prejudice between groups
in society through the use of superordinate goals
...
Specifically, to see if two groups of boys can be manipulated into conflict
through competition and then conflict resolution by working together
...
They were selected through
opportunity sampling
...
One groups was called the eagles and the other
was called the rattlers
...
Each group did not know about the existence of the
other group
...
Each group spent time bonding with
each other by member only within the group
...
As soon as they head about each other, the two groups
became hostile
...

Integration phase – sheriff tried to bring the two groups together by introducing tasks which
brought them together
...
When
the eagles won the tournament, the rattlers stole their prizes
Integration prize – the groups had shared films and meals, which led to name calling and food fights
...

Sheriff concluded that prejudice will occur in a situation merely where two groups are created – this
supports social identity theory
...


17

STRENGTHS OF THE STUDY
The participants were matched carefully so that individual differences would not affect their
attitudes and judgments
...

The study involves observation and observers were only with boys for 12 hours a day
...

Has high ecological validity as the setting was natural but it did lack a control group which would
make it difficult to compare the results and to know if RCT would take place if the groups were not
introduced
...
However, parents were informed fully, but they were asked not to
visit and could not check whether the boys were happy at the camp
...

It is also unethical to case conflict between groups to cause prejudice
...
They were 11-year-old boys that were from similar family and school
backgrounds, and with fairly similar abilities
...
The participants were also
all male and so cant generalise to girls, and adults
...


18

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE DATE
This is data which is gathered that is not in numerical form
...
Qualitative data is typically descriptive
data
-

-

Advantages:
o it is objective – numbers mean the same thing to everyone and you don’t need to
interpret them personally, this makes quantitative data very reliable and highly
scientific
...

o Quantitative data can be turned into statistics, which allows detailed comparisons of
large groups and the identification of trends
...
Numbers can summarise data very quickly and with little
space whereas descriptions in words may be very lengthy or time-consuming
...

Disadvantages:
o Qualitative data is hard to make comparisons with and it is difficult to analyse large
group
...
It can be lengthy
to analyze, and due to the open-ended approach used in qualitative research it can
be difficult to test hypothesis
...

-

-

Advantages:
o Qualitative data allow for the research to produce in-depth analysis and achieve
more detailed data which can increase the validity of the experiment
...

Disadvantages:
o The main drawback with quantitative data is that it is reductionist
...
A lot of detail and meaning is lost when human experience is
presented quantitatively
...

o For example, two respondents could fill out a questionnaire completely differently
but get the same overall score
o In an observation, tallying the number of times a behaviour took place gives
researchers a frequency score, but it doesn't tell you what the behaviour was like
(serious or playful? successful or unsuccessful? enthusiastic or half-hearted?) or why

19

the person acted as they did
...


20

SAMPLE SELECTION
RANDOM SAMPLING
Random sampling is when everyone in the target population has an equal chance of being selected
Random samples require a way of naming or numbering the target population and then using some
type of raffle method to choose those to make up the sample
...
Therefore, the sample is more likely to be
representative of the target population
...

o There may be a problem in getting the name of people because of the data
protection act
...
For example, someone might not be available on the
required day
...
For example, if a study was being conducted on obedience between female
and male soldiers, random sampling may not give any female solider which would
not be useful
...


VOULNTEERING SAMPLING
This method of sampling is when people are asked to volunteer for the study either personally or
visa an advertisement
...

-

-

Advantages:
o as people volunteer themselves, they are more willing to be involved so perhaps
may be less likely to gives biased information or to go against the researcher’s
instructions
...

Disadvantages:
o As the participants select themselves they might be similar in some way
...
They also had to have time to take part, which would rule out those in
certain occupations
...

o people tend not to respond to adverts, unless they have a strong interest/view to
share or a motivation to take part therefore are more likely to respond with demand
characteristics
...


21

OPPORTUNITY SAMPLING
This is selecting people who are most available to the researcher at the time of the study
...

Disadvantages
o There is more chance of a bias than with other methods
...

o Those who are picked are available and willing to take part in the study, this would
rule out anyone not available or not willing, which again will cause bias
...
For example, asking people
in the street on a Monday morning is likely to exclude out professional people or
people from rural areas
...
The proportion of the sample should match the
proportion of the sample should match the proportions in the groups themselves
Subgroups within the population are identified and then participants are then obtained from each of
the subgroups in proportion to their occurrence in the target population
...

o Stratified sampling is an efficient way of ensuring that the sample is representative
from each group
...

o The groups which are set by the study may not be important groups
...
This could
mean that the sample is not representative of the population
...
If that
group is not considered in the sampling, it will not be represented
...

110+120+130+140+150

= 130

5

Then subtract the mean from all the values in the data
X
110
120
130
140
150

(x̄)
130
130
130
130
130

x-(x̄)
-20
-10
0
10
20

Then square the results

X
110
120
130
140
150

(x̄)
130
130
130
130
130

x-(x̄)
-20
-10
0
10
20

(x-x̄) 2
400
100
0
100
400

Then find the sum of values that had been squared
400 + 100 + 0 + 100 + 400 = 1000

Next divide 1000 by the number of values
1000

= 200

5
Next find the square root of 200
200 = 14
...
14 to 2dp

23

ETHICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOCY
One research in social psychology which has ethical issues is Milgram’s study of obedience
...
The participants were deceived as they did not
know that the shocks were false
...
The participants were exposed to extremely stressful situations that may have the potential to
cause psychological harm
...
However,
Milgram did debrief the participants fully after the experiment and also followed up after a period of
time to ensure that they came to no harm and found that there were no signs of any long term
psychological harm
...
7%) said that they were pleased that
they had participated
...
Another ethical issue which the study violates is the right to
withdraw
...

Burger had conducted a study of which the aim of the study was to replicate Milgram’s findings and
to see whether people would still obey today but under more ethical conditions Burger had used
ethical controls that improved Milgram’s original study
...
The participants were warned 3
times that they could withdraw from the experiment at any time and keep the $50
...
The test shock was only 15V not Milgram’s painful 45V
...
In his study
sheriff tried to see what factors make two groups develop hostile relationships and to see how this
hostility can be reduced
...
There was also some deception in his study as the boys did not know that they
were being observed and part of a study
...
This is because by creating these conditions people can use Sherif
results to reduce prejudice between two groups
...
In sheriff study it isn’t mentioned
whether debriefing has happened, so it is possible that it may have never happened so may raise
some ethical concern

24

QUESTIONNAIRE
The following is a questionnaire which you could use or create a similar one to investigate the effect
of type of authority on obedience
...
You volunteer to work at a hospital, and a doctor asks you to administer electric shocks to a patient
knowing it will cause the patient pain if done
...
(1- very obedient, 5- not obedient)
1

2
...
(1-not obedient, 5-very obedient)
...


4

If a policeman asked you to hand over you purse for no valid reason how obedient would you be to
give your purse in
...

1

4
...
On a scale of 1-5 how
obedient would you be to the passenger
...

1

3
...
How obedient would you be to come into
school tomorrow wearing different clothes (1-not obedient, 5-very obedient)
...


7

---