2006-09-25 07:14:18 · 6 answers · asked by zoe d 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
Since you already have a couple of ecological answers, thinking in terms of neuroscience, natural experiments are great because they allow you to study the effects of lesions to the brains of humans which you couldn't make purely for the advancement of science.
The disadvantages are that you're severely limited in how much you can manipulate your variables, and it's hard to pin down the precise things that give you your results.
2006-09-26 11:28:29 · answer #1 · answered by lauriekins 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A field experiment is an experiment carried out in the participants' natural/everyday environment. However, the researcher is still manipulating the IV (changing the thing that affects the DV). Therefore, the main advantages are: 1. Mundane realism-i.e. can apply the results to everyday life (everyday environment). 2. Less prone to demand characteristics (i.e. the participant is more likely to behave normally instead of either pleasing the researcher or going against the researcher). the main disadvantages are: 1. Less control over extraneous variables (i.e. other things that could affect the results other than the IV). 2. Less replicable than Lab experiments (i.e. harder to repat because every set of participants' everyday environment will be slightly different). For further advantages and disadvantages, consult one of the following books: Cardwell, Clark & Meldrum-Psychology for AS Level Cardwell-AS Psychology: the Complete Companion Eysenck, M-AS Psychology (3rd edition)
2016-03-27 09:08:24 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Natural Experiment Psychology
2016-11-16 06:08:17 · answer #3 · answered by nelems 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Advantages: It has ecological validity as it set in a realistic environment and It can be used for theory development (developing new ideas etc)
Disadvantages: You can't take into account other variables therefore there is less control
Observer bias - the observers expectations may affect the focus taken and record therefore reliability can be questioned
And it can be unethical as you can only conduct natural observations for people who don't mind being observed therefore consent needs to be taken into account.
Hope that helped!
2006-09-25 07:23:31 · answer #4 · answered by laydeeheartless 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Advantages:
Easy to do.
Ethical.
Disadvantages:
Researcher cannot control variables.
Limited subject sample.
Mmm, that's all I remember right now.
2006-09-25 07:24:48 · answer #5 · answered by cancelcodeyellow 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
advantages: high ecological validity
disadvantages: not easily replicated, may never happen again, can be v lengthy/time consuming
2006-09-25 07:22:44 · answer #6 · answered by stephizzal 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋