Rhetoric and standardization in Milgram's obedience experiments.

This presentation draws on archived audio recordings from Stanley Milgram’s obedience studies in order to highlight the role of rhetoric in the experiments.  As well as focussing upon rhetorical strategies used by participants, consideration of these data also draw attention to the flexibility afforded to the experimenter in what is usually understood to be a standardized experimental script.  Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to developments in discursive psychology and the sociology of scientific knowledge.