EXPERIMENTS & GENERALISATION ISSUES

• Investigator effects:

  • Researcher unconsciously conveys to participants how they should behave (researcher bias)
  • Example: Leading questions
• Demand Characteristics:

  • All the clues in the study which convey the purpose / aim of it to the participants
  • Can change the results of the experiment if participants change their behaviour to conform to expectations
• SCREW-U effect

  • Acting how they think experimenter does not want them to act so underperform
• PLEASE-U effect:

  • Acting how they think the experimenter wants them to act - overperform
• Social Desirability Bias:

  • People answer in ways that will make them seem good in the eyes of others
• How to reduce demand characteristics:

  • Don't tell them the aim
  • Study participants at the same time
  • Ensure study takes the shortest amount of time as possible
• Mundane Realism:

  • How similar the materials and procedures involved in an experiment are similar to real world events
• Experimental Realism:

  • Extent to which a controlled study is meaningful / engaging to participants (respond naturally / spontaneously)
• Researcher bias:

  • Influence of the results of the study on whether or not the study is published
  • Studies which fail to reject the null hypothesis are less likely to be published than those that produce a statistically significant result