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Hawthorne effect
noun
- a positive change in the performance of a group of persons taking part in an experiment or study due to their perception of being singled out for special consideration.
Hawthorne effect
/ ˈhɔːˌθɔːn /
noun
- improvement in the performance of employees, students, etc, brought about by making changes in working methods, resulting from research into means of improving performance Compare iatrogenic placebo effect
Word History and Origins
Origin of Hawthorne effect1
Word History and Origins
Origin of Hawthorne effect1
Example Sentences
And while this could be understood as a sort of Hawthorne effect particular to this experiment as a whole, it is hardly unique.
Even for the most well-meaning researcher, accurate measurement of changes to symptoms can be a challenge for a number of reasons, one of which is a phenomenon known as the Hawthorne effect.
Sociologist Henry Landsberger described the tendency of subjects to behave differently when they know they are being observed as the Hawthorne Effect after the Chicago telephone works where efficiency experts tried to study worker productivity under different circumstances but got no useful results because workers’ awareness that they were being watched so dramatically changed their behaviors.
Researchers say the positive results were a sign of the Hawthorne effect, a term for behavioral change as the result of being observed.
He added that believing communications were being monitored could make people less prone to harass colleagues, in a placebo known as the Hawthorne effect.
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