Of Methods and Metaphors: Theater and Self-Exploration in the Laboratory

This article examines the metaphor of laboratory experimentation as theater After a brief review of the purpose, problems, and sources of metaphor in the social sciences, the authors describe the similarities between experimental and theatrical dynamics in regard to the tensions for the actor (experimenter) between script and performance, and for the audience (subjects) between illusion and convention. Laboratory and theatrical dynamics, however, depart in a number of significant respects. Most important, in the former the audience (subjects) becomes an active participant in the experimentally created drama. The authors draw from theory in anthropology and the performing arts to understand these enactment processes. This metaphor enriches the conceptualization of experimental practice, presentation, and interpretation, and can be used as a pedagogical framework for research design.