More realistic study of Milgrams as
it's a field study (in a natural
environment) and nurses were
unaware they were involved in an
experiment.
Would a nurse knowingly obey an order
from an authoritative figure (a doctor) even
though it would break hospital rules and be
potentially life threatening.
Method
The procedure involved a naturalistic field
experiment involving 22 (real) night nurses.
Dr. Smith (a stooge) phones the nurses at
the hospital (on 22 separate occasions)
and asked them to check to see if they
have the drug astoten.
When the nurses
checked they
could see that the
maximum dosage
was 10mg.
When they reported to the
'Doctor', they were told to
administer 20mg pf the
drug to a patient called Mr.
Jones. Dr. Smith was in a
desperate hurry and he
would sign the
authorisation from when he
came to see Mr. Jones
later on.
The nurses were watched to see what they would
do. The medication was not real, though the
nurses thought it was.
Rules
They are not allowed to accept interactions over the phone.
The dose was double the maximum limit stated on the box.
The medicine itself was unauthorised, i.e not on the ward stock list.
Results
Evaluation
Strength
Natural environment means high
ecological validity. Therefore it
reflects everyday more realistically
than Millgram
Weakness
No control over extraneous variables
meaning you can't really determine cause
and effect.