The Field Study in Social Psychology

How to Conduct Research Outside of a Laboratory Setting?

Tomasz Grzyb, Dariusz Dolinski

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367636449
• eBook ISBN: 9781000429664
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Applied Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This unique book offers a comprehensive introduction to field studies as a research method in social psychology, demonstrating that field studies are an important element of contemporary social psychology, and encourages its usage in a methodologically correct and ethical manner.

The authors demonstrate that field studies are an important and a much-needed element of contemporary social psychology and that abandoning this method would be at a great loss for the field. Examining successful examples of field studies, including those by Sherif and Sherif, studies of obedience by Hofling, or the studies of stereotypes of the Chinese by LaPiere, they explore the advantages and limitations of the field study method, whilst offering practical guidance on how it can be used in experiments now and in the future. Covering the history and decline of the field study method, particularly in the wake of the replication crisis, the text argues for the revival the field study method by demonstrating the importance of studying the behaviour of subjects in real life, rather than laboratory conditions. In fact, the results point to certain variables and research phenomena that can only be captured using field studies. In the final section, the authors also explain the methods to follow when conducting field studies, to make sure they are methodologically correct and meet the criteria of contemporary expectations regarding statistical calculations, while also ensuring that they are conducted ethically.

This is an essential reading for graduate and undergraduate students and academics in social psychology taking courses on methodology, and researchers looking to use field study methods in their research.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Is social psychology still a science of human behavior?
• 2 A strictly natural experiment
• 3 The field study in social psychology: the history of research conducted using the field study method
• 4 Field study vs. other research methods: a comparison
• 5 Internal and external validity: enemies or friends?
• 6 Ethical aspects of field studies: what the code says and what common sense dictates
• 7 Who should be the participants? The problem of randomization in field studies
• 8 The effect of the social context of studies
• 9 Imprecise procedures as a source of error variance
• 10 Variables that are (usually) omitted in the experimental procedure and that affect the outcomes of the experiment
• 11 Studies conducted via the Internet perceived as being in a natural environment for numerous actions of contemporary man
• 12 Publication of results
• 13 Replications
• 14 Areas where field studies have remained in use
• 15 Good practices
• 16 Final remarks
• References
• Index