Evaluatioon of Burger

Generalisability – 70 men and women, from a range of backgrounds and ethnicities, increases the chances of representing the target population. Suggests that a wide range of people would respond in the same way so can make generalisations to others. Limitation – research is still Western based which limits the ability to draw cross cultural conclusions. Collectivist cultures may respond differently in the modelled refusal condition for instance, if they see another person disobey.

There are doubts over the validity of the claim that it was the situation that led to obedience because of certain features of the study. There are issues that might lead to obedience other than the situation; the experimenter taking responsibility and the participant not having been in the situation before so looking to the experimenter for guidance

Reliability – procedure is extremely detailed, with each participant receiving the same experience depending on condition they are placed in and going through the same screening procedure e.g. every participant saw the confederate strapped to the chair and was informed of his heart condition. This means that the procedure…