I think the Stanford prison experiment and the Milgram experiment should not be lumped together, as if their validity issues or scientific usefulness was comparable. The former has never been successfully replicated and there is essentially nothing to be learned from it (other than sociological lessons related to how a seriously flawed study can be taken seriously, and be disseminated widely, for decades). By contrast, the Milgram experiment has been replicated multiple times in a wide range of settings, and when the totality of this evidence is considered it seems hard to deny that it uncovered something true, interesting and important about human psychology, even if one can point to some methodological problems in some of the studies.
At least this is my understanding as a complete amateur. Feel free to correct me if you think this assessment is inaccurate.
I think the Stanford prison experiment and the Milgram experiment should not be lumped together, as if their validity issues or scientific usefulness was comparable. The former has never been successfully replicated and there is essentially nothing to be learned from it (other than sociological lessons related to how a seriously flawed study can be taken seriously, and be disseminated widely, for decades). By contrast, the Milgram experiment has been replicated multiple times in a wide range of settings, and when the totality of this evidence is considered it seems hard to deny that it uncovered something true, interesting and important about human psychology, even if one can point to some methodological problems in some of the studies.
At least this is my understanding as a complete amateur. Feel free to correct me if you think this assessment is inaccurate.
Thanks, I stand corrected pending further review