I have intentionally titled this post as above because there is the sense (amongst those who are aware of Stanley Milgram’s work) that the “obediance” experiment was just that–a single experiment. However, as Gina Perry at Discover Magazine informs us, Milgram actually performed a series of a couple of dozen experiments, varying the conditions from experiment to experiment. Let’s have a quick look at the specifics of the experiment by watching the video below..
Here are a few questions that we’ll discuss in class today that are prompted by this video:
- What practical considerations did Milgram overlook when conducting his research
- From what ontological perspective was Milgram working?
- What did we learn about obedience from the Milgram experiment?
- What political ramifications with regard to war and soldiers come out of Milgram’s experiment?
- How do the lessons learned from the Milgram experiment help us to design better research methods?
Clouds, Clocks, and Sitting at Tables 