User:Htw3/ResourcesOrange
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Contents |
[edit] Note
Your group can organize this space however you want. Following is one proposal, feel free to use it if it seems helpful.
[edit] General
this links might be helpful
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j124481220536212/
http://pan.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/10/4/325
http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.polisci.5.091001.170657
Note: remind me to get key titles from Dr. Shelly
Wikipedia work from email reminder:
- Create a login ID for yourself
- Edit your user page
- Edit my userpage by adding a link to yours
- Talk with your groupmates about your topic
- Make progress on topic choosing and background research for your
topic. Make sure you touch base with me on email or through the wiki page about topic and next steps.
Further Wikipedia work:
- Get topic approved by Ted
- Show Ted a full list of directly related Wikipages
- Discuss possible resources/references for your topic
- Find 2-4 key references that will provide overviews of your topic (or parts of your topic)
- Get the resources
- Read them
- Make your outline
- Start writing sections
[edit] Related wiki pages
Examples:
Human Subject Research
-History evolved by using human subjects
Stanford prison experiment
The Third Wave
Milgram Experiment
Defining:
Experiment
Methodology
Types of Experiments:
Field Experiment
-Methodology section
Obedience (human behavior)
Broad Sections:
Social Sciences
Communication
- Sociology
Criminology
Social Psychology
Anthropology
Economics
Political Science
Linguistics
Education
Geography
History
Law
Books:
http://papers.nber.org/papers/w12931
http://smr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/19/4/493
[edit] Annotated bibliography
Banyard, Phillip and Cara Flanagan. Ethical Issues and Guidelines in Psychology. Routledge, 2006.
Walker, Henry A. Willer, David. Building Experiments. Stanford University Press, 2007.
Webster Jr., Murray; Jane Sell (2007). Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-12-369489-8.
http://exp-platform.com/Documents/GuideControlledExperiments.pdf
[edit] Experimental Methodology In Social Sciences
Experiments began in the laboratory and were conducted through behavioral experiments. However, those means are not adequate when trying to answer social questions. Thus, experimental methods have developed from the laboratory to a more hands on, personal, experimental method, that can better address important social science questions.
[edit] Historical development, overview of topic
[edit] Origins and basic concepts
An experiment is a test that, under controlled conditions, verifys or falsifies the validity of a hypothesis. In the social and behavioral sciences, experimental methodology first emerged in the field of psychology. After gaining popularity in psychological experiments, researchers wanted to try to test their sociological hypotheses. In sociology experiments, the focus shifted from testing the subjects on an individual basis, to testing subjects in a social context. The idea of sociological research is to focus on individual levels first, then sociological factors in order to test for social outcomes.
Several factors have limited the application of experiment methods in the social sciences.
First, for many social questions, it is not practical to randomly assign people to experimental conditions. It is difficult to control for certain variables in a sociological context, because most of the research has to be observational. A second issue is that some sociological questions contain too large of a population to test. An example would be a question about cross-cultural differences; this might be hard to control or test for in an experiment. A third issue is that the unit of analysis (variable that we are testing) might not be people, it might be organizations or companies, which might make it difficult to test.
Other issues concerning sociological research might include several problems that occur in field studies, including the fact that the validity of the experiment is harmed when the experimenter is involved in the study. Also, it might be difficult to know the real causes of peoples' complex social behavior. It is much easier to test for validity in a controlled environment (like the psychological experiments), but in a sociological context, one has to observe people in a natural setting in order to see them interract with others.
[edit] Experiments that began to address more social questions
Some experiments that were key early examples of how scientists first began to use experiments to ask questions about institutions, situations, roles and norms are:
The Asch conformity experiments studied the way in which people will conform to the ideals and values of society when in a social group. Solomon Asch's studies of conformity and distortion of judgments are widely considered to be classic experiments and are still studied today. Writing in the aftermath of fascism and World War II, Asch asserted that understanding why people submit to group pressure is of "obvious consequences for society" (Walker 40). This experiment showed the reactivity of subjects in that they were likely to answer with the majority even if it was wrong.
The Milgram Experiment and Stanford Prison Experiment studied the ways in which subjects obeyed authority under social pressures. Stanley Milgram's experiments address the question "What conditions affect obedience to authority?." Like Asch, Milgram's work was motivated by issues raised during the tyrannical rule of Hitler's Third Reich. Questions rose around the world asking how millions of people could be humiliated, tortured, and killed in Nazi death camps. "Was the Holocaust the work of many evil people or the result of the obedience of many ordinary people to the authority of an evil few?" (Walker 43). Milgram took the question seriously and designed experiment to discover the limits of authority. This experiment brings up the idea of ethics because the people participating are unaware of what they are really testing for. However, it would be extremely hard to come up with an experiment to test this with the participants knowing.
The Stanford Prison Experiment was directed by psychologist Philip Zimbardo; he and his fellow researchers wondered "what would happen if we aggregated all these processes making some participants feel deindividuated and other dehumanized within an anonymous environment that constituted a 'total environment' in a controlled experimental setting" (Walker 100). This experiment also brings up the idea of ethics. The outcome was unforeseen but very well could have psychologically damaged some of the participants.
Robert Rosenthal (1966) used an experiment to demonstrate the power of Experimenter's bias. Three groups of students assisted in a study that involved laboratory rats running mazes. One group was told that their rats has average abilities. Groups two and three were told that their rats were intelligent and unintelligent respectively. Students who ran "unintelligent" rats consistently reported poor performances whereas those who had "intelligent" rats reported high performances. Outside the lab, bias of this sort can also have important practical consequences. Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) studed teacher expectations and found that teachers who expected poor performances from their students got poor performances. Those who expected good performances had higher-performing students (Walker 114). Experimenter bias is a problem in research because experimenters results can be affected by what they predict those results will be.
All of these past experiments started to address the issue of experimental methodology in sociology and different problems in this field. Including: reactivity, different ethical issues and experimenter bias.
[edit] Ethics
There are four general issues involving ethics: objectification, potential harms, exploitive practices, and confidentiality (Hegtvedt 142). All of which are guidlines that sociologists must consider when doing any type of experiment, to receive honest, usable data. However, these four general guidelines were not always enforced. It began after World War II, when standards for non-therapeutic research were increased after what is known as the Nuremberg Trials. These experiments were done by Nazi doctors who conducted cruel medical experiments on the concentration camp prisoners. After the realization of such treatment, the U.S. formed the Institutional Review Board that regulates federal standards that researchers must follow when conducting experiments.Though the IRB provides a set of rules and guidelines for researchers to follow when conducting experiments, it does not mean that issues with ethics are completely eliminated. Even in today’s experiments, the four main issues with ethics still apply. However, there has become more of a focus on privacy laws today than ever before. This is not just seen within experiments but within surveys, questionnaires, etc. So when a researcher commits to an experiment they must be conscious of the rules and regulations regarding a person’s privacy, especially in these times. A more recent study in 1985, by Levin and Arluke, really tested the issues of privacy. These researchers walked around New York City listening to and observing conversations between people, without their consent, to do an observational study on interpersonal conversations (Banyard and Flanagan 71).
[edit] Standards used to evaluate ethics in social research
The Institutional Review Board is a method developed in the United States during the post World War II era. IRB standards are required for all research that is in some way (directly or indirectly) funded. Such standards are in existence to protect the rights of human subjects; more specifically, to ensure their safety throughout an experiment. Rules and regulations are most common when experimenting with women who are pregnant, children, and the elderly. Examples of requirements are: a list of safety information, information about the study itself and exactly what type of experiment they are participating in, and of course their rights as the participant-which may include payment, withdrawal from the experiment, etc. The IRB is in place to ensure that human subjects are taken care of as much as possible. In order to get usable, unbiased results from an experiment, a researcher needs to make sure he or she is complying with standards that will make their subjects feel respected, comfortable, and willing to participate in the study (IRB forum).
[edit] Special challenges for social experiments
As previously mentioned, privacy is a challenging issue in social experiments. Not only just the issue of keeping something private, but the changing notions of what privacy means creates a more difficult challenge. Years ago people lead much more private lives and so the people of that time have far different notions of privacy then the younger generations who are much more open about their lives, especially on the internet. There are very drastic differences in the ways people view privacy. Some hold privacy to be a very important aspect of their lives and others (younger generations mostly) have no problem putting their life out on the internet for everyone to see. And consequently for researchers to use as data for different experiments and research. The internet and it's effects on social research and experimentation is discussed in the last section.
[edit] Types of Experiments
There are many ways that researchers have managed to extend aspects of experimental methodology to social scientific questions.
Field experiments are typically performed outside of the laboratory in a field setting. These types of experiments make experimental methodology in sociology possible because we are able to test and observe people in groups, which would be impossible in a traditional laboratory. A major difference in field experiments compared to laboratory experiments is that there is less control for variables. Field experiments are extremely useful in sociological research because they allow for the testing of subjects in a social context. An example of a field experiment would be the treatment of the homeless by the surrounding people in a given city.
Quasi Experiments are experiments where there is some control for certain variables, but subjects are not randomly assigned to the comparison and experimental groups. "As a result,we can not be as confident in the comparability of the groups as in true experimental designs" (Schutt, 200). However, this type of study is essential to the field of sociological research because it allows researchers to test certain hypotheses that would otherwise not be feasible in a true experimental design (Schutt, 210). An example of a quasi-experiment would be testing the affect of serving on juries. The subjects are naturally randomly assigned, and the data already exists.
Factorial surveys allow researchers to ask a wide array of people questions on an individual level. The sample of people is larger and provides a useful tool in conducting sociological research. This is a very useful tool for sociologists who want data on a vast majority of people. "Survey owes its continuing popularity to three features: versatility, efficiency, and generalizability" (Schutt, 234). Some errors in survey research include, nonresponse, poor measurement, inadequate coverage of the population, and sampling error. However, survey research remains a popular method of conducting research in sociology. Factorial surveys may be conducted on the internet, and may request information on almost any topic of interest.
Cross-cultural studies focus on a particular experiment or topic of interest and test it across different cultures to see if any similarities and/or differences exist. This is a useful tool in sociological research because it is important to study the differences in people across countries, particularly in a sociological context. An example of a cross-cultural study would be to test differences in cultural norms in varying societies across the globe.
Web-based experiments are experiments that are conducted over the internet. These experiments allow researchers to have access to a large population of people. Several advantages to these types of experiments include the fact that a large population can be easily included in this type of research, and it is time-efficient. Researchers might choose to send emails to potential participants, who will then email their answers back. One disadvantage to this type of research is that people might dismiss these emails as "junk mail," or be more inclined to decline if they are not being asked in person to participate.
[edit] Current research / new directions in research
Technology has always played a significant role in conducting experiments. However, the means of said technology have changed quite a bit. One of the earliest experiments by Norman Triplett in 1898 used a competition machine that helped him study human physiological performance under different conditions of self-pacing versus group competition (Troyer 175). Time has definitely changed the means of technology since the nineteenth century, but assures us that even the earliest researchers knew that technology is a huge part in the execution of all types of experiments.
Currently, researchers use the internet and other virtual methods as a less costly, and easier way to gather data and conduct surveys and experiments. In using the internet to conduct web based surveys it allows researchers to reach broad ranges and a variety of subjects to further explore in their studies. With today’s dependence upon e-mail and internet, it is possible to conduct experiments on an international level, as well as at a low cost and a high efficiency.
Of course as with any experimental method, using the internet and other virtual methods have its quirks. Researchers often run into problems with subject response or have other technological issues. Privacy and confidentiality are often issues when experimenters do studies via internet. Other problems include the lack of control that the researcher has when conducting internet surveys over the subject’s environment and sample biases.
[edit] Relevant links
experiment
Asch conformity experiments
The Milgram Experiment
Stanford Prison Experiment
Experimenter's bias
Institutional Review Board
Field experiments
Cross-cultural studies
Web-based experiments
