Examine the Problems That Some Sociologists May Face When Using Different Kinds of Experiments in Their Research.

Examine the problems that some sociologists may face when using different kinds of experiments in their research.

There are many problems faced whilst conducting experiments within sociology. There are two types of experiments; scientific, which adopts a positivistic approach to research, this type of experiment collects quantitative data and is all about observing cause and effect relationships to identify correlations, they are systematic and allow the researcher to observe the effects of the variables within a controlled environment. This is also known as a ‘lab experiment’, sociologists such as Milgram conducted laboratory experiments and discovered the problems involved with this. The other type of experiment used is humanistic experiments, this type of experiment adopts an interpretivistic approach which allows researchers to see the world from the same perspective as those being studied, this approach favours qualitative methods such as observation. This is also known as a ‘field experiment’, sociologists such as Sissons (1970), Rosenhan (1973) and Elton Mayo (1925) conducted field experiments and discovered the difficulties involved with them.

A laboratory experiment is one of which is conducted within an unnatural environment where variables can be controlled, whereas, a field experiment is one of which is conducted within a natural environment for those whom are being observed but this makes variables hard to control; field experiments are more true to life, this is because people are where they are comfortable and therefore are less likely to act any different, especially if they don’t know that they are part of an experiment. Laboratory experiments are often used in order to collect quantitative data such as graphs or statistics due to the fact that Laboratory experiments cannot recreate normal life and there is a high possibility of the people’s behaviour being affected because they know they are part of an experiment, this means observations, etc....