Demand characteristics and investigator effects

Question 1

what is a demand characteristic?

Answer 1

an aspect of the research situation that act as cues to the participants. They try to make sense of the research situation that they find themselves in and act differently from the way that they would out ‘normally’

Question 2

demand characteristics could cause what behavior in participants?

Answer 2

• trying to guess the purpose of the research and acting in a way that they feel is helpful to the researcher - or indeed, unhelpful
• acting nervously and out of character - for instance, participants may feel that they are being evaluated in some way and feel worried about this.
• displaying a social desirability bias- wishing themselves to be seen in the most favorable light possible, e.g. in the responses given to a questionnaire on moral standards.

Question 3

what is single blind/ experimental realism?

Answer 3

it is a type of research design in which the participant is not aware of the research aims or which condition of the experiment they are receiving. Experimental realism is a term that refers to how convincing the research scenario is, the better designed and more convincing the more participants are involved and less likely to be influenced on cues about how to behave.

Question 4

what are investigator effects?

Answer 4

a result from the researcher’s behavior and characteristics in investigation which have an effect on a participants performance in a study.
• Expectation effects can occur where a researcher is committed to achieving a particular outcome. This may be a problem when observing events that can be interpreted in more than one way.

Question 5

what is a double blind/ /standardized procedure?

Answer 5

Neither the participant or the experimenter are aware of the research aims and other important details and thus have no expectations that can be influential. Standardized procedures ensure that all participants are tested under the same conditions and include standardized instructions that help minimize the communication of potential cues to the participants.
this helps reduce researcher effects.