ABSTRACT
As we noted in Chapter 2, the laboratory experiment has been the model for much research in the behavioral sciences. However, the laboratory experiment has a number of shortcomings, especially its artifi ciality. Compared to people’s normal life experiencesto which we frequently want the results of our research to apply-laboratory research takes place in an artifi cial setting, uses artifi cial operational defi nitions of variables, has participants perform artifi cial tasks, and uses as research participants people who may not constitute a reasonable sample of the population. In addition, as discussed in Chapter 7, laboratory research can be reactive because research participants know they are being studied. Not surprisingly, then, many researchers, especially those with applied interests, have expressed concerns over the potential lack of naturalism of laboratory research (see Greenberg & Folger, 1988). These critics of laboratory research hold that the validity of the conclusions one can draw from a study is closely related to its ecological validity, the degree to which the research situation mimics a natural situation (see Chapter 8).
