Describe and Evaluate one way in which conformity has been investigated? (9 marks)

Describe (A01):Asch study (1951) or any of the variations of this study including group size, task difficulty (how similar the lines were), anonymity (answering in secret compared to revealing your answer to the entire group), expertise (e.g. whether the students were engineering students or humanities students)Answer should include details ofMethod: task description, conditions, factor being investigated, type of methodology used (e.g. lab study or observational study)Results: the percentage of conformity seen in each conditionConclusion: should include an explanation for the results (e.g. why did the participants behave in the way they did)Evaluate (A03):Methodological issues: Sample: (American Male Students)Expand this further- this is a limitation because... the sample is not representative of the general population, therefore the study lacks external validityLocation: (Lab)Artificiality of setting- again explain why this is a limitation (lack of generalisability to other real-world settings)Validity:Issues associated with lab experiments and observation techniques: both are likely to cause changes to how the participants behave. Therefore, the results may not be accurate reflections of how the participants would behave in real-world settingsEthical issues: e.g. consent and/or deceptionEvaluation can also involve critical appraisals which are positiveFor example; this study was of high significance to the field of psychology and provided a great deal of insight for social psychology and investigating rates of conformity. Therefore despite it's limitations, Asch's research was still valuable.