Doctoral Dissertation Research: Directive-Response Sequences and Statistical Experimentalism

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Doctoral Dissertation Research: Directive-Response Sequences and Statistical ExperimentalismSES - 1103195Douglas W. MaynardMatthew HollanderUniversity of Wisconsin, MadisonAbstractThe Milgram experiment has iconic status in the social sciences. Conducted in the wake of World War 2 and the atrocities associated with that period, the experiment examined Why and under what conditions people show obedience to authority even if it results in harm to others? The study, which has been replicated many times and in different settings, has informed public and science policy, and it has shaped professional ethics training for generations of scholars. However, we actually know very little about what happened during the original experiment, especially as it concerns incidents where people chose to resist orders, including those that might cause harm to others. This dissertation addresses the following question: What exactly did disobedient subjects say and do that enabled them to sustain resistance? Why did obedient subjects fail despite sporadic displays of seemingly strong resistance? What generalizations can be made from participants' concrete actions to attempts to resist power in other settings? How did Milgram's use of the "hybrid statistics" endemic to 1950s experimental social psychology influence his interpretation of what subjects did? To answer these questions, the project uses an analytical strategy known as conversation analysis to examine a large collection of Milgram's original audio and video recordings made in 1961-62 during more than 900 experimental sessions (archived at Yale University). Preliminary findings suggest that many study participants who expressed verbal resistance to the experimenter's directives nevertheless displayed willingness to be guided by further commands, for instance by requesting clarification about directives. In contrast, ultimately disobedient subjects seem to have resisted orders more effectively by making reference to the desires of the victim, a practice that involved explicit and sustained refusals to continue the experiment. Broader ImpactsThus study seeks to generate new insight into an iconic experiment whose legacy has affected the way we "do science." The Milgram experiment, and interpretations derived from the data have had a strong influence on leading sociological and psychological paradigms about people's obedience to authority. It has also affected basic science procedures in a broad set of disciplines via human subjects regulations and institutional review boards, as well as experimental norms taught in methods classes. Thus, findings from this research may be of interest to a broad set of researchers in the social and life sciences, as well as science policy makers. In addition, the project provides a training opportunity for undergraduates.