Method of experiment: description, disadvantages and advantages

Within the framework of knowledge of the surrounding reality, the scientific toolkit offers many means of empirical, that is, experimental research. The experiment is one of the most effective, because it is based on the principles of repetition and evidence by facts. What is still important, the method of experiment allows you to study individual phenomena regardless of random factors, which distinguishes it from traditional observation.

Technology of the method as a means of investigation

In comparison with practical cognition through observations, the experiment is organized as a prepared study, before which a specific task is posed with pre-established parameters for interpreting the result. An important feature is the participation of the researcher in the process of such knowledge. In addition, the method of scientific experiment is precisely due to the possibilities of organizing it again in the same conditions, with accuracy and more reliable information. Thus, it is possible to establish causal relationships between individual elements of the experiment, revealing other properties with patterns in a particular phenomenon.

In the organization of experiments often use instrumentation and technical equipment to ensure the correctness of data. The classical description of the experimental method can be presented as a laboratory research process, since it is completely controlled by the author, but there are other concepts of this way of cognition of reality, which will be considered below.

Experimental models

Usually impeccable and random experiments are singled out. The first is the model of the organization, which for one reason or another can not be implemented in practice, that is, in the conditions of scientific observation. This technique not only helps to accomplish the set task regarding the study of the object, but also contributes to the improvement of the experimental method by identifying individual errors. As for the random experiment model, it is based on the concept of random experience, which can correspond to the real test, but its result will be unpredictable. The random experimental method requires a wide range of requirements. For example, a prepared mathematical model of research in it should adequately describe the experiment. Also, when setting the problem, researchers accurately determine the model in which the initial mathematical data for the experiment and the results obtained will be compared.

What types of experiment is divided into?

In practice, physical, computer, mental and critical experiments are most often used. The most common is the physical experiment, which consists in the cognition of nature. Due to such experiments, in particular, erroneous hypotheses of physics are revealed, which were studied in the framework of theoretical research. Computer experiments are connected to the computer process. During the tests, specialists process the initial data on a specific object, as a result of giving information about the revealed properties and characteristics. The thoughtful method of experiment can affect different areas of research, including physics and philosophy. Its fundamental difference is the reproduction of reality conditions not in practice, but in the imagination. In turn, critical experiments are not focused on the study of specific objects or phenomena, but on the confirmation or refutation of a certain hypothesis or theory.

Features of psychological experiments

A separate group of experiments is represented by the psychological sphere, which determines its specificity. The main subject of study in this direction is the psyche. Accordingly, the conditions for carrying out the research will determine the vital activity of the subject directly. And here we can note some contradiction with the basic principles of the method in question as such. Compared to other types of research, one can not expect complete control and creation of test conditions. You can proceed only from biased data, which will provide a psychological experiment. The method of psychological research also does not allow us to single out one of the processes of mental activity, since the experimental influences exert an influence on the organism as a whole. Similar research can be conducted on people, and on animals. In the first case, the conditions of holding sometimes provide for the initial instruction of the subject.

Natural and laboratory experiments

This division is also included in the concept of psychological experiment. Natural research can to a certain extent be correlated with scientific observation, since in this case minimal interference in the course of mental activity of the subject is assumed. By the way, from here comes a significant advantage of the natural method. Subject due to lack of interference in his life in the experiment can remain in the dark. That is, it does not affect the fact of the study. On the other hand, because of the lack of control, this method of scientific experiment in psychology is considered ineffective. Opposite characteristics also determine the advantages of a laboratory experiment. In such studies, the tester can, if possible, artificially organize the learning process, focusing on specific facts of interest to him. But even in this case, the need for close interaction between the researcher and the subject determines the subjectivity of the result obtained.

Advantages of the experimental method

The advantages of this approach in research are, above all, the control of the conditions. The researcher organizes the process in accordance with its capabilities and resources, which greatly facilitates the work. Also, the merits of the experimental method are due to the possibility of repeating it, which makes it possible to refine the data without corrections for changes in the test conditions. Conversely, flexible process correction capabilities allow you to monitor the dynamics of changes in certain qualities and properties of the object.

Of course, the main advantage of this technique is the accuracy of the data. This parameter will depend on how well the process conditions were prepared, but in the given framework and parameters one can count on a high degree of reliability. Especially the advantages of such tests in terms of accuracy are revealed by the method of observation. The experiment on its background is more controllable, which allows excluding third-party factors of interference in the research process.

Disadvantages of the method

In general, the weaknesses of experimental methods are related to organizational errors. Here, too, it is worth comparing with observation, which in terms of conditions will be extremely correct. Another question is that, unlike the observation, the experiment in all parameters is a fixed process. In addition, the drawbacks of the experimental method are connected with the impossibility of artificial repetition of phenomena and processes. Not to mention the fact that certain areas of application of technology require significant material investments in the organization.

Examples of using experiments

One of the earliest experiments was carried out by Eratosthenes Kirensky, who studied physical phenomena. The essence of his research was to calculate the radius of the Earth in a natural way. He used the degree of deviation of the Sun from the Earth during the summer solstice, which made it possible, by relating the parameters with the distance to the point at which there was no deviation at all, to conclude that the radius is 6300 km. The difference with the actual indicator is only 5%, which indicates the high accuracy with which the method was performed. The experiment, examples of which are reflected in psychology, can not claim mathematical accuracy, but they deserve attention.

So, in 1951 a group of researchers conducted a group experiment, the purpose of which was to study conformism. Participants were asked to give answers to simple questions about the number and location of the sticks, which allegedly checked their eyesight. In this case, all but one participant was given a command to give false results - on the detection of this difference, the method was based. The experiment, the examples of which were reproduced many times, eventually gave disappointing results. Participants who remained one on one with a deliberately wrong but dominant opinion, in most cases also agreed with him.

Conclusion

Experimental studies undoubtedly expand and deepen the person's idea of the world around him. Nevertheless, this method can not be used in all spheres. Observations, experiments and experiments in the complex give much more information, complementing each other. There are areas in which research is possible by different methods separately, but in the interests of rationalization, scientific centers are increasingly using combined approaches. At the same time, we must admit that a fundamental role in the development of theories and hypotheses still has an experimental study.