Sherif\'s \"Robbers Cave Study (1954) A study conducted by Muzafer Sherif attemp

Question

Sherif's "Robbers Cave Study (1954) A study conducted by Muzafer Sherif attempting to better understand the conflict. The study hypothesized that() relationships are brought together to goals, they produce a group structure with hierarchical statuses and roles within it. (2) If two in-groups thus formed are brought nto functionalrelationship under conditions of competition and group frustration, attitudes and appropriate hostile actions in relation to the out-group and its The study involved two groups of twelve year-old boys at Robber's Cave State Park, Oklahoma, America. The twenty two boys in the study were unknown to each other and all from white middle-class bockgrounds. The boys were randomly assigned to one of two groups, although neither was aware of the other's existence. They were then, as individual groups, picked up by bus on suocessive days in the summer of 1954 and transported to a 200 At the camp the groups were kept separate from each other and were encouraged to bond as two individual groups through the pursuit of common goals that required co-operative discussion, planning and execution. During this first phase, the groups did not know of the other group's existence. The boys developed an attachment to their groups throughout the first week of the camp, quickly arious activities together like hiking, swimming, etc. The boys chose names for their groups, The Eagles and The Rattlers, and stenciled them onto shirts and flags. establishing their own cultures and group norms, by doing Sherif now arranged the 'competition stage' where friction between the groups was to occur over the next 4-6 days. In this phase it was intended to bring the two groups into competition with each other in conditions that would create frustration between them. A series of competitive activities (e.g. baseball, tug-of war etc.) were arranged with a trophy being awarded on the basis of accumulated team score. There were also individual prizes for the winning group such as a medal and a multi-bloded pocket knife with no consolation prizes being given to the losers The Rattlers' reaction to the informal announcement of a series of contests was absolute confidence in their victory! They spent the day talking about the contests and making improvements on the ball field, which they took over as their own to such an extent that they from The Eagles bothered their flag Situations were also devised whereby one group gained at the expense of the other. For

Explanation / Answer

In the Sheriff's Robber Cave Study, field experiment was used. Here, the participants were randomly assigned to two groups, which later came to be known as 'The Eagles' and 'The Rattlers'. The two groups were exposed to two stages- one stage was the 'no competition stage', whereas the other was the 'competition stage'. In the no competition stage, the participants bonded with each other, as members of two individual groups, via coorporative discussion, planning and execution and pursuit of common goals. They exhibited attachment for their respective groups, developed group cultures and norms as well as names for their groups. In the competition stage, friction developed between the groups. In the conflict situation, prejudice and discriminatory behavior was clearly visible, as a result of introduction of competition.

Field experiment is a scientific method of conducting experiments in real-life settings. Here, an intervention is studied in the real world or naturally occurring environment, rather than in the laboratory. For example, a field experiment is conducted in a classroom, work place or even on the street. As compared to laboratory experiments, field experiments are much more common in sociology. In field experiments, subjects are usually assigned to treatment and control groups, randomly. The results are compared between these groups. It is important to note that in field experiments, the results can be observed in the natural setting, rather than in an artificial setting of a laboratory. Therefore, these experiments have higher external validity, as compared to laboratory experiments. Field experiments can be conducted in large scale settings, as well. But in field experiments, controlling confounding or extraneous variables may be difficult, which contaminates the results of the experiment. Control over confounding variables is more possible in a laboratory. Feld experiments also have the disadvantage of not being replicable. They can be conducted without informed consent of the participants, which is an unethical practice.

The researcher has used an appropriate method of field experiment for the study. This is because the experiment involved 22 twelve year old boys in two groups. These boys were to be exposed to competition stage of the experiment, which could lead to outrageous activities due to aggresion (like burning of flags, ransacking, overturning beds and stealing private property). Even the control situation required a larger and real life area for activities like thug of war, baseball, hiking and swimming. So, the purpose of the experiment could only be served in a real life setting, rather than in a laboratory.

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