SOCL 2211 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Dependent And Independent Variables, External Validity, Grou
Document Summary
In both the natural and social sciences, the most conventional type of experiment: three major components. Experimental and control groups: typically, the independent variable is preferably going to be a stimulus. Internal validity - refers to the possibility that the conclusion drawn from experimental results may not accurately reflect what went on in the experiment itself. Expected results: group 1 post test prejudice is lower than pretest, group 2 pretest = post test, post test of group 1 has a lower prejudice than the post test of group 2. Group 3 post test prejudice is lower than the post test of group 4. Important social science experiments occur outside controlled setting: sometimes by nature (i. e. : hurricane katrina, 9/11, bp oil spill) The chief advantage is in the isolation of the experimental variable"s impact: also allows for easy replication. The greatest weakness of all experiments lies in their artificiality.
