What is laboratory research?

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Laboratory research is research that is conducted in a room or room or building equipped for scientific experimentation or research. Laboratory research attempts to investigate naturally occurring behaviors under controlled conditions with manipulated variables. This allows for the researcher to concluded causality between two variables, which is difficult to establish in natural settings without controlled conditions and manipulated variables.

Example / Application

Example: Ashe Line Experiment

Application: In the video on group conformity the experiment was conducted in a laboratory setting, a room equipped for scientific experimentation. This laboratory setting allowed for the experiment to have controlled conditions and manipulated variables. The conditions were controlled by having the same conditions for each participant and the manipulated variable was the confederates all giving the same wrong answer. The laboratory setting allowed for the researcher to conclude group conformity, because of the established causality between the groups' response and the participant’s response.

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