Doctoral Dissertation Research: Directive-Response Sequences and Statistical Experimentalism

博士论文研究：定向反应序列和统计实验主义SES-1103195道格拉斯W。米尔格拉姆实验在社会科学中具有标志性的地位。 在第二次世界大战以及与此相关的暴行之后进行的实验，研究了为什么以及在什么条件下人们表现出对权威的服从，即使它会导致对他人的伤害？ 这项研究已在不同的环境中重复进行了多次，为公众和科学政策提供了信息，并为几代学者的职业道德培训奠定了基础。 然而，我们实际上对最初实验中发生的事情知之甚少，特别是因为它涉及人们选择抵制命令的事件，包括那些可能对他人造成伤害的事件。 本论文解决了以下问题：究竟是什么不听话的科目说，做，使他们能够持续抵抗？为什么服从的受试者尽管偶尔表现出看似强烈的抵抗，但还是失败了？从参与者的具体行动到在其他环境中抵制权力的尝试，可以得出什么样的概括？米尔格拉姆对20世纪50年代实验社会心理学特有的“混合统计”的使用是如何影响他对受试者行为的解释的？为了回答这些问题，该项目使用了一种被称为对话分析的分析策略，以检查米尔格拉姆在1961-62年在900多个实验会话中制作的大量原始音频和视频记录（存档于耶鲁大学）。初步研究结果表明，许多研究参与者表示口头阻力实验者的指令，但显示愿意被进一步的命令，例如，要求澄清指令。 相比之下，最终不服从的受试者似乎通过提及受害者的愿望而更有效地抵制命令，这种做法涉及明确和持续拒绝继续实验。更广泛的影响因此，这项研究试图对一个标志性的实验产生新的见解，这个实验的遗产影响了我们做科学的方式。“米尔格拉姆实验，以及从数据中得出的解释，对人们服从权威的社会学和心理学范式产生了强烈的影响。它还通过人类受试者法规和机构审查委员会以及方法课程中教授的实验规范影响了广泛学科的基础科学程序。因此，这项研究的结果可能会引起社会和生命科学领域广大研究人员以及科学政策制定者的兴趣。此外，该项目还为本科生提供了培训机会。

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.