Experimenter / Investigator Effects

• The experimenter unconsciously conveys to participants how they should behave - this is called experimenter bias
• Investigator effects are the ways in which researchers unconsciously influence the results of research
• Physical characteristics of investigators may influence results such as age or ethnicity (e.g. males may be unwilling to admit sexist views to female researchers )
• Less obvious personal characteristics of investigators, like accent or tone, can influence results
• Investigators might be unconsciously biased in their interpretation of data and find what they expect to find