Experiments in Sociological Research: Laboratory and Field Experiments
An experiment tests a hypothesis by manipulating an independent variable, the factor the researcher changes, and measuring its effect on a dependent variable, the factor measured for change, while trying to control other variables.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Identify whether the question is about laboratory or field experiments, since their strengths and weaknesses are usually opposite.
- Define independent variable, what the researcher changes, and dependent variable, what is measured to see the effect, precisely if asked.
- Link laboratory experiments to control and replicability, a positivist priority, but note the artificiality this creates and its risk to ecological validity.
- Link field experiments to natural, valid behaviour, but note the loss of control over other variables and the near-unavoidable use of deception.
- Be ready to describe a specific, real design, such as sending matched CVs with different ethnic-sounding names to employers, as a model field experiment.
- Remember many sociologists, especially interpretivists, argue true experiments are rarely appropriate for studying people, since human behaviour is shaped by meanings and context that a controlled or artificial setting cannot fully capture.
Worked example
A researcher wants to test whether employers discriminate on the basis of a job applicant's name by sending two identical CVs to 100 employers for the same job, one under a traditionally White British-sounding name and one under a traditionally different ethnic-sounding name, and recording how many of each are invited to interview. Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable in this field experiment, and explain one strength of this design.
- Identify the independent variable: the name and perceived ethnicity signalled on the CV, since this is what the researcher deliberately changes between the two versions.
- Identify the dependent variable: whether the applicant is invited to interview, since this is what is measured to see if it is affected by the independent variable.
- Explain a strength: because the CVs are otherwise identical and the employers do not know they are part of a study, the design isolates the effect of the name on the outcome while capturing employers' genuine, natural hiring behaviour, giving the field experiment high validity for measuring real-world discrimination.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What is the independent variable in an experiment?Show answer
Answer: The factor that the researcher deliberately changes or manipulates to test its effect.
Q2What is the dependent variable in an experiment?Show answer
Answer: The factor that is measured to see whether it is affected by the change in the independent variable.
Q3What is the key difference between a laboratory experiment and a field experiment?Show answer
Answer: A laboratory experiment takes place in an artificial, controlled setting, usually with participants aware they are being studied; a field experiment takes place in participants' natural, everyday setting, often without their knowledge.
Q4Give one advantage of a laboratory experiment over a field experiment.Show answer
Answer: The researcher has much greater control over variables, making it easier to isolate cause and effect and to replicate the study exactly.
Q5Give one advantage of a field experiment over a laboratory experiment.Show answer
Answer: Because it takes place in a natural setting, often without participants' knowledge, it usually produces more valid, natural behaviour than an artificial laboratory setting.
Q6Why do many field experiments raise ethical concerns?Show answer
Answer: They often involve deceiving participants and do not gain informed consent, since participants are usually unaware they are part of a study.
Q7Give one reason interpretivist sociologists are generally critical of using experiments to study human behaviour.Show answer
Answer: They argue human behaviour is shaped by meanings, context and free will, which cannot be reduced to variables controlled in an artificial or manipulated setting like in natural science.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two limitations of using laboratory experiments to study human social behaviour.
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A researcher tests whether background noise affects pupils' concentration by bringing 20 pupils individually into a soundproofed university laboratory to complete a memory test, first in silence, then with recorded traffic noise played. Evaluate the validity of using this laboratory design to draw conclusions about how noise affects pupils' concentration in a real classroom.
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Discuss the strengths and limitations of using experiments in sociological research.
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See real GCSE Sociology past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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