Michael:

I do not think the Hawthorne Effect is measured in research as we do not always have the time to do so. But, it is really important especially with using technology in a new way as students' engagement initially can be mistaken for increases in performance, which can lead to misleading conclusions in research. Great question!

Many thanks,

Debra

Hi - I'd ask yourself questions about 'novelty'. What does this really mean? It could be valuable engagement that could be sustained? Novelty might be a really precious focus for your research; the starting point of something importantly related to your actual research focus. I wouldn't go along with any 'measurement' of novelty. I'd explore it with an open mind.....

Michael:

I do not think the Hawthorne Effect is measured in research as we do not always have the time to do so. But, it is really important especially with using technology in a new way as students' engagement initially can be mistaken for increases in performance, which can lead to misleading conclusions in research. Great question!

Many thanks,

Debra

Hi Michael - the Hawthorne Effect in research will mostly always be there to a certain extent - bar laboratory-based highly controlled experimental designs. Even then - who knows? Maybe lab-rats behave differently to their normal behaviour because they are being researched in a different environment. Let's take Pavlov's Dogs!!

I agree with Debra - we can look for it - but we cannot control it - and how do we know what it looks like? Let's say I'm conducting a survey or an interview or a focus group. Apart from comparing one group that has something against another group that hasn't, and looking for 'difference', the Hawthorne Effect is a 'given'. Control and treatment groups usually know that they are being researched - so there is always the potential for them to behave differently to if they were not being researched - or did not know that they were researched. The latter types of covert studies are extremely difficult to get through ethics approval - so the majority of participant's know. 

I do agree, to a certain extent, that in studies - such as longitudinal, cohort studies - the participants may eventually become 'indifferent' to the fact that they are in a study - but I doubt that this means that the Hawthorne Effect disappears entirely or becomes negligent. 

Surely, to ensure reliability and validity is maintained. When research design is taken into consideration, the Hawthorne effect must be thought of as a measure to ensure that it does not influence the findings.

As  we  know  we  have  different  types  of  research  such  as  descriptive, experimental, non-experimental, time series, cross-sectional     etc.....

I believe that  the extent of addressing  the  Hawthorn Effect  depends on how relevant  this  the Hawthorne effect  to the type  of  research we are conducting

Abdulrazzak - I fully agree. Malini - it is not always possible nor necessary to address the Hawthorne Effect. That's why we have different designs i.e. quasi-experimental to accommodate this phenomenon. The concept of eradicating 'confounding/extraneous variables' is perhaps more relevant - and closely related. 

Its perpetual in human beings

Hawthrone effect is progressive, as along as the subject/s feels that they are being observed; and that their behavior is going to affect the livelihood or any critical parameter that is being linked to for the current performance.

I'd like to thank you a lot , Michael, as you bring the issue of Hawthorne Effect in research. I have been reading some research in education regarding the effectiveness of a new technological device such as integrating mobile phone, computer programs or a new software program, etc. It is a pity that in some of them the duration of the application or treatment takes one or two weeks or a month.  Then, we can argue about the validity of the results and conclusions of such research reports. 

Dear Professor Marek,

I'd never thought of this effect in my experimental work before I read this thread of yours. Now I recall how student participants were trying to finish the given tasks attentively, and could excel those in the control group. I think this Hawthorne Effect also affects pre and posttest scores as students know they'll need to do better in the posttest. I remember seeing students speak and write very little in the pretest, so they'd be more impressive in the posttest. They seemed to know what was expected of them.

I'm thinking of how to cope with this Hawthorne Effect in language teaching experiments, especially those on new technologies in the classroom. In addition to extending duration of the experiments, is it also possible to provide the control group with some activities other than doing test-like exercises--activities such as making categories of words, repeating phrases in story telling, etc... any long-standing activity independent of the use of technologies, but new to students? By this, both groups will have a chance to experience the initial excitement of class.

Well, just my opinion. If I can think of some more, I'll be back here to add them.

Sincerely,

Cameen 

Hello there,

The Hawthorne effect concerns research participation, the consequent awareness of being studied, and possible impact on behavior. Consequences of research participation for behaviors being investigated have been found to exist in most studies, although little can be securely known about the conditions under which they operate, their mechanisms of effects, or their magnitudes. It is thus important for other domains of research on human behavior to rectify the limited development of understanding of the issues represented by the Hawthorne effect as they suggest the possibility of profound biases.

Hope it helps

Regards

hi,

a very interesting debate, and it would certainly seem to me that good research practice would suggest we should be giving clear indication of how long a study has been (in the same way that we would expect to know the number of participants). I think the novelty factor is a very interesting one; as a lecturer in German Studies, I've become increasingly frustrated at the 'show and tell' nature of many ICT and language learning conference presentations which often seem to me to say more about the presenter's enthusiasm for the bells and whistles of a particular app or tool than the long-term value of its integration in a well-founded pedagogical approach. However, these people are also often the 'early adopters' (to use Everett Rogers's term from 1961) who trawl through all the new developments and hopefully put a spotlight on the ones that may become those worthy of longer-term research. Perhaps it is rather the role of the 'early majority' to undertake this research work and explore the broader implications on teaching and learning. Of course, one of the difficulties is that as soon as a tool is adopted for the classroom because it is thought to be what learners like using, they tend to move onto something else - It's perhaps not much fun having what you use as your personal social media platform suddenly turning up as homework!

best wishes

Jean

I agree with Debra, in my experience, having done some short controlled experimentation, there appears to be some undue influence around perceptions of students in relation to their learning context and environment - particularly when using new technologies.  I need to consider the Hawthorne effect as part of one of my current research projects:

https://www.researchgate.net/project/Learning-through-failure-students-need-to-fail-to-develop-deeper-understanding-as-part-of-their-educational-development

New concepts are needed to study research participation effects. This study aims to (1) elucidate whether the Hawthorne effect exists, (2) explore under what conditions, and (3) estimate the size of any such effect. see the link below. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3969247/

A few 2008 & 2009 articles in The Economist may give a better peep into the subject. See the links below. You may need to subscribe free of cost to read up to three articles per week  from The Economist.   

Questioning the Hawthorne effect

Light work

Being watched may not affect behaviour, after all

Jun 4th 2009, 11:53 | From the print edition

http://www.economist.com/node/12510632

https://explorable.com/hawthorne-effect

I would say yes for Hawthorne Effect. Working in food science does not let us to finish our experiment with less than 8 weeks. 

Interesting Aly !

It seems that nowadays most of the discussions  surrounding the Hawthrone effect relate to the effect of technology on participants  who are involved  in  a given  classroom study .But how can such Haw Throne effect come into being in a language classroom   experiment where  technology is not used ?

The "Hawthorne effect" is an interesting psychological factor that needs investigation on its own. I don't see a problem in studying it as a variable, especially in relation to other variables (e.g. language learning motivation, attitudes, background knowledge, etc.) 

Hawthorne effect is a classical way of understanding the impact of researcher or the importance felt by the subject for being made a part of the study which impacts the obtained results. This need not be investigated in all kinds of experiments if certain assumptions are made clear in the beginning. And the ethical issues which have created the necessity of debriefing or voluntary consent are important aspects which should be taken into account for avoiding any confounding effects