Some research into obedience has been carried out in laboratories. Other studies into obedience have been carried out in the real world, including field experiments and observations.

(a) Outline one advantage of conducting obedience research outside a laboratory setting. [2 marks]

(b) Outline one limitation of conducting obedience research outside a laboratory setting. [2 marks]

Answer:

(a) One advantage of conducting obedience research outside a laboratory is that it is likely to have higher ecological validity. This means the findings can be more easily applied to real-world behaviour.

(b) One disadvantage of conducting obedience research outside a laboratory is the reduced control over extraneous variables. These variables may influence the results, making it more difficult to determine the true effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.