Evaluation of Obedience Studies

Methodological Issues

Artificial Situation / Low Ecological Validity

The Milgram studies were conducted in laboratory type conditions and we must ask if this tells us much about real-life situations. We obey in a variety of real-life situations that are far more subtle than instructions to give people electric shocks, and it would be interesting to see what factors operate in everyday obedience. The sort of situation Milgram investigated would be more suited to a military context. Hofling's study was carried out in a real-life setting (a hospital) and so has far more ecological validity.

Sample

Both Milgram's and Hofling's samples were biased: The participants in Milgramxs study were all male. Do the findings transfer to females? The participants in Hoflingxs study were all likely to have been female and nurses. Would the findings transfer to males and people who are not nurses?

In Milgram's study the participants were a self-selecting sample. This is because they became participants only by electing to respond to a newspaper advertisement (selecting themselves). They may also have a typical "volunteer personality" – not all the newspaper readers responded so perhaps it takes this personality type to do so. Finally, they probably all had a similar income since they were willing to spend some hours working for a given amount of money. In Hoflingxs study we may even ask if all nurses have a common personality type. It has to be said that Hofling's study was conducted in 22 different hospitals but they all had similar rules.

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Ethical Issues

o Deception – the participants actually believed they were shocking a real person, and were unaware the learner was a confederate of Milgramxs.

o Protection of participants - Participants were exposed to extremely stressful situations that may have the potential to cause psychological harm.

o However, Milgram did debrief the participants fully after the experiment and also followed up after a period of time to ensure that they came to no harm.