ABSTRACT
Experiments involve the researcher intervening in the site of investigation. Traditionally common in the psychology of education, experiments can be conducted in a laboratory, but they are more likely to take place in the ‘field’ – in everyday environments such as the classroom. This chapter introduces some of the more famous educational experiments, identifies some of the key aspects such as intervention and control groups, variables and causality, and distinguishes between different experimental designs. It considers issues related to internal and external validity, and examines some important ethical concerns associated with the empirical approach.
