Abstract

PEREIRA, Marcos Emanoel. Experimental Method in Social Psychology: On Experimental Research in a Relativistic Milieu. Psicol. pesq. [online]. 2010, vol.4, n.2, pp. 156-164. ISSN 1982-1247.

Experimental research is not adopted by Brazilian social psychologists in the same proportion as it is used in other geographical contexts. Based on this premise, this paper intends to identify why experimental method is neglected in some contexts. It discusses the differences between the experimental and non-experimental research, taking into account the commitments adopted by researchers with different research backgrounds. We present some relativist arguments against the experimental research in social psychology and the replies given by experimentalists. The conclusion of this paper is that it seems unreasonable to defend the thesis that psychology can abandon a method widely adopted in other scientific disciplines.

Keywords : Experiment; social psychology; relativism; critical realism.

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