Asch's Study


	Asch's Study
	Advantages It is a lab experiment which means it is easy to replicate and will not likely be affected by extraneous variables.	Disadvantages It does not have population validity and therefore has both cultural and gender bias. All the participants were white, American and men. Research shows that collectivist countries like China are more orientated towards the needs of the group not the individual therefore the conformity level would increase there. In addition, it cannot be generalised because it is known that women are more likely to conform than men. Participants knew that they were part of a study so might have followed the study thinking that was the correct thing to do. (demand characteristics) Perin and Spencer (1980) called it a "child of its time" The study has temporal validity. In 1950's America, they were much more conforming and new to the idea of social norms. It means that Asch's study is not consistent across time and wouldn't be as applicable to society today. The task itself was very artificial and simple in itself. This means that the findings can't be generalised to everday life meaning that it is not ecologically valid.
	Evaluation evaluation is the advantages and disadvantages.

It is a lab experiment which means it is easy to replicate and will not likely be affected by extraneous variables.

It does not have population validity and therefore has both cultural and gender bias. All the participants were white, American and men. Research shows that collectivist countries like China are more orientated towards the needs of the group not the individual therefore the conformity level would increase there. In addition, it cannot be generalised because it is known that women are more likely to conform than men.
Participants knew that they were part of a study so might have followed the study thinking that was the correct thing to do. (demand characteristics)
Perin and Spencer (1980) called it a "child of its time" The study has temporal validity. In 1950's America, they were much more conforming and new to the idea of social norms. It means that Asch's study is not consistent across time and wouldn't be as applicable to society today.
The task itself was very artificial and simple in itself. This means that the findings can't be generalised to everday life meaning that it is not ecologically valid.

evaluation is the advantages and disadvantages.

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