Stan obecny i perspektywy na przyszłość eksperymentów w naukach społecznych
The Present Status and Future Prospects of Experiments in the Social Sciences

Summary/Abstract: Social Science experiments appeared in psychology at the University of Leipzig in the 1880s, and naturalsetting and laboratory experiments appeared in sociology four or five decades later. Experiments area particular kind of research design involving control of independent variables before measurement ofdependent variables. While all designs are subject to confounding factors, random allocation to conditionsis generally a satisfactory protection against them. Strongly instantiating variables and pretesting alloperations are essential. Power assessments are equally helpful. We trace developments in a standardizeddesign that has been widely used to study status and expectation state processes, including improvementsin operations with video and computers, and new ways to create interaction variables. Some new designsare being developed to study interrelations of vocal accommodation and group position. Factorial vignettesare a technique for introducing experimental control outside of a laboratory, permitting rapid collection oflarge amounts of data. Virtual reality equipment and computer simulations similar to those used for drivers’education and flight training show promise for experimental use but they have not yet been used for thispurpose. Finally, we consider some misunderstandings about experimental research that may impede moregeneral use of this methodology, and suggest some corrections for the misunderstandings.

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