The Present Status and Future Prospects of Experiments in the Social Sciences
Journal Title: Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis. Studia Sociologica - Year 2016, Vol 0, Issue 1
Abstract
Social Science experiments appeared in psychology at the University of Leipzig in the 1880s, and natural setting and laboratory experiments appeared in sociology four or five decades later. Experiments are a particular kind of research design involving control of independent variables before measurement of dependent variables. While all designs are subject to confounding factors, random allocation to conditions is generally a satisfactory protection against them. Strongly instantiating variables and pretesting all operations are essential. Power assessments are equally helpful. We trace developments in a standardized design that has been widely used to study status and expectation state processes, including improvements in operations with video and computers, and new ways to create interaction variables. Some new designs are being developed to study interrelations of vocal accommodation and group position. Factorial vignettes are a technique for introducing experimental control outside of a laboratory, permitting rapid collection of large amounts of data. Virtual reality equipment and computer simulations similar to those used for drivers’ education and flight training show promise for experimental use but they have not yet been used for this purpose. Finally, we consider some misunderstandings about experimental research that may impede more general use of this methodology, and suggest some corrections for the misunderstandings.
Authors and Affiliations
Murray Webster, Jane Sell
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP195431
- DOI -
- Views 118
- Downloads 0
Kryminologia i dezorganizacja w globalnym świecie. Aspekty teoretyczne i praktyczne
W dzisiejszym zglobalizowanym świecie także przestępczość ma znamiona globalne, choć niejednokrotnie i najczęściej doświadczany jest jej wymiar lokalny. Stanowi ona istotny element dezorganizacji społecznej. Jakże inacze...
Dawn L. Rothe i David O. Friedrichs, Crimes of Globalization. New Directions in Critical Criminology, Routlegde, London – New York 2015, 132 s.
Dawn L. Rothe i David O. Friedrichs, Crimes of Globalization. New Directions in Critical Criminology, Routlegde, London – New York 2015, 132 s.
Reading Minds of Experimental Subjects... Insights from Pre- and Post-Experimental Surveys in a Redistribution Game Experiment
Subjects’ responses in pre- and post-experimental questionnaires are utilized to elucidate their behaviour in an asymmetric Prisoner’s Dilemma redistribution game with no communication between players. We find experiment...
Psychophysiological Techniques for Measuring Emotion in Social Science
This article briefly presents 6 techniques of measuring emotion: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), galvanic skin response (GSR), Facial Action Coding Syst...
Komunikacja międzykulturowa w perspektywie praw kulturowych
Komunikacja międzykulturowa coraz częściej zyskuje sobie stałe miejsce na horyzoncie problemów badawczych współczesnych nauk społecznych i humanistycznych. Warto jednak zauważyć, że sam fakt komunikacji nie jest tylko pr...