The Experimental Method (1963)

The Experimental Method (1963), developed by social psychologist Muzafer Sherif, is a research approach used to study how people's opinions and behaviors change in group settings. It involves creating controlled experiments where variables are manipulated to observe their effects on participants' judgments or actions. Sherif’s famous experiment, for instance, studied how individuals’ perceptions of movement or distance changed when they were influenced by others. This method helps researchers understand social influence, conformity, and how group dynamics shape individual decisions through systematic, observable testing in a controlled environment.