Control & Demand Characteristics

• In research, demand characteristics are cues that might indicate the aim of a study to participants.
• These cues can lead participants to change their behaviours or responses based on what they think the research is about.
• Presence of demand characteristics in a study suggest that there is a high risk that participants will change their natural behaviour in line with their interpretation of the aims of a study.
• Participants may try to please the researcher by doing what they have guessed is expected of them.
• Participants might deliberately try to skew the results in one way or other, such as attempting to do the opposite of what they think is expected (i.e. the 'screw you' effect).
• Demand Characteristics-

  Ppts are not passive within experiments-they may try to guess what is going on.
• The way that ppts respond to the experimental situation has the potential to become and EV.
• Demand Characteristics are cues that might indicate the aim of the study to ppts.
• These may then cause ppts to alter their behaviour to suit what they think the experimenter wants.
• Investigator effects occur when a researcher unintentionally, or unconsciously influences the outcome of any research they are conducting.
• Investigator effects can be non-verbal or verbal.
• Investigator effects can occur in the interpretation of the results.
• Investigator effects can influence the outcome of research by introducing bias or influencing participant behaviour through their own beliefs, expectations, or actions.
• Investigator effects are any effect of the investigator's behaviour on the DV.
• The researcher may expect a certain result in an experiment and may unintentionally or intentionally alter their behaviour to achieve the desired result.
• For example,

  This could be through encouragement of one group more than another.
• Randomisation is used in the presentation of trials to avoid any systematic errors that the order of the trials might present.
• It is important to control all variables because they can confound the results and make it difficult to determine the true effect of the variable of interest.
• Controlling extraneous variables is important in experimental research to ensure that any observed effects are truly due to the manipulated IV and not influenced by other factors.
• Randomisation is used in the presentation of trials in experiments to ensure that participants are assigned to different groups or conditions in a way that is unbiased and free from any potential confounding factors.
• This is a simple step that can be taken by a researcher to minimise the effects of the EVs.
• Randomisation is when the researcher used chance methods to reduce researcher effects.
• Randomisation is the use of chance methods to control for the effects of bias when designing materials and experimental conditions.
• Standardisation refers to the process in which procedures used in research are kept the same. This is to ensure a fair test for all participants.
• Another method to reduce bias.
• All ppts should be subject to the same environment, information and experience- only difference should be the IV.
• To ensure this procedures are standardised.
• This means that there is a clear list/ script of exactly what will be done in the study so that it is the same every single time.