labatory experiments

other people can replicate them and produce the same results 

positivists prefer them becuase they achieve their main goal of reliability.

reject them because they fail to achieve thier main goal of validity 

• studying the past- cannot be used for the past as the variables cannot be controlled
• smaller samples- difficult to investigate on a large scale
• it is imppossible to control all variables in scoiety 
• individuals are complex- it is hard to matchthe members in the control and experiental group
• open system- can only work with science. society is an open system where factors annot be controlled 
• the hawthorne effect 
• the expectancy effect

• it is wrong to mislead people
• informed consent 
• potential physical and mental harm to partcipants 
• sensitive subjects 
• debriefing 

Where the subjects of a research study know they are being studied and begin to behave differently as a result. Undermining the studies validity.

• field experiments 
• questionnaires 
• observations 

• it is controlled and in an artificial environment 
• there must be two groups; the control and the experimetnal group
• we can discover cause and effect relationships 

• positivists- expeiments are good becuase of thier reliability. this is becuase they can control the variables, produces quantitative data and is detached. However, it cant be representative.
• interpretivists- experiments are bad becuase we are different from plants, rocks and other natural things. our actions cn only be understood by the choices we make and why