Classic and Modern Study Questions

Responses for Classic Study

Responses for Modern Study

Similarities and Differences Between Your Two Responses

Citation for studies in APA style

Milgram, S. (1965). Some conditions of obedience and disobedience to authority. Human Relations, 18(1), 57–76.

Alasuutari, P. (2018). Authority as epistemic capital. Journal of Political Power, 11(2), 165–190.

Article by Milgram published over fifty years ago while article by Alasuutari published within the last five years

What is the research question or hypothesis in this study?

"If an experimenter tells a subject to hurt another person, under what conditions will the subject go along with this instruction, and under what conditions will he refuse to obey."

How does authority as a concept appeal to different persons thinking processes to produce behaviors?

Both research were meant to determine how authority affects behavior of different persons. Whereas classic study was to determine how authority imposes behavioral outcomes to persons modern study aimed to determine how authority appeals to different persons in thinking process to produce behaviors.

Name two studies referenced in this article that contributed to the main theme of this article.

Buss, ARNOLD H. (1961).  The psychology of aggression. New York and London: John Wiley

KIERKEGAARD, S. (1843).  Fear and trembling. English edition, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1941

Alasuutari, P., 2016. The synchronization of national policies: ethnography of the global tribe of moderns. London: Routledge

Alasuutari, P. and Qadir, A., 2014. Epistemic governance: an approach to the politics of policymaking. European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, 1, 67–84. doi:10.1080/23254823.2014.887986

The difference is that the author of the classic article used references from other studies while the author of the modern article used some of the sources, he had published himself in the past

What type of research method was used in this study? Correlation? Experiment?

The methodology was observational since the author explained how different scenarios of an experiment done at Yale University were applicable in ascertaining how authority is used to generate social changes.

Document analysis

The classical article used observational research method while the modern article used observation

Were the measures used in your study reliable and valid? Explain.

Yes. The author explains how different scenarios of an experiment done at Yale university were applicable in ascertaining how authority used to generate social change

Yes. The author synthesized data from different articles.

In classic study the author used different scenarios of an experiment done at Yale University to ascertain how authority generated social change while the author in modern study used different document analysis to explain the impact of authority in handling behavioral actions of different persons.

What were the main results/conclusions in this study?

Human beings performed actions in conformity to the type of authoritative figure handling their directions. People can perform duties based on logical requirements, family duties, or impact in their conscience.

Authority imposes force on different persons since it changes how they think

In classical study, human beings performed actions in conformity to the authority handling them while in modern study authority forced change to persons as it changed how they think.

Did this study have ethical problems? If so, name them.

Yes. The author explained how people usually undergo mental pressures to adhere to diverse instruction, which becomes mandatory for them to engage with.

No

While classic study has ethical problems where people undergo mental pressures in complying to instructions in modern study there is no such ethical problems.

How does this research help improve people’s social well-being/social welfare?

In classic study human beings perform their actions in compliance to the authority and based on their directions.

In modern study the authority imposes force to the people which affects their daily lives.

In classic study human beings make their decision in line with the current authority

Whereas in modern study authority imposes force on different person and changes the way they make their daily decisions.

What influence did this study have on the everyday lives of people in society?

People in the society started making decisions based on the current authority and on their directions.

The authority-imposed force to change on the way people thought and make decisions

In modern study the authority affected the way people were thinking and making daily decisions while classic study individual make their daily decisions in accordance with the authority.

How has this study changed the way you view the world? Did this study affect you personally?

The study has changed my view to the world. For instance, in the older days, individuals made decisions which were within the authority of the day.

The study has changed my view on the world because I have discovered that sometimes people make decisions based on the existing authority.

The difference in the two articles is that the way authority influenced decision-making the past decades is not the same way they influence decisions presently.