Briefly evaluate Ash's study into conformity (4 marks)

A strength of Asch's study into conformity is that it was carried out in a lab setting and was carefully controlled. This means that there was good control over extraneous variables, therefore any change in results was due to the change in the independent variable and its effect on the dependent variable. The results show a direct cause and effect link and so are ,therefore, reliable.
A weakness of Asch's study into conformity is that the sample is made up entirely of American, undergraduate students so the results are only generalisable to that specific group and conformity may be higher in other groups. For example, Neto found that women are more conformist than men because they are more concerned about social relationships. The results of Asch's study lack generalisability to other groups.