Demand Characteristics And Investigator Effects

Question 1

Summarise demand characteristics

Answer 1

Demand Characteristics: Are cues in the experimental situation that makes the participant
aware of what the research wants to find, or how participants are expected to behave. This
can lead to the participant changing their behaviour.
If the participant has changed their behaviour, then this is a confounding variable. Demand
characteristics create participant reactivity such as:
• Trying to guess the purpose of the research and acting in a way that they feel is helpful
or unhelpful to the researcher.
• Acting nervously and out of character because of being in a research situation and are
worried about being evaluated.
• Displaying a social desirability bias, wishing themselves to be seen in the most favourable
light possible.
Ways to reduce Demand Characteristics:
• Use a Single-Blind Technique: This is where the participant has no idea of the research
aims and/or which experimental group they are in.
• Use deception and distractor question

Question 2

What are investigators effects?

Answer 2

Investigator Effects: Are any unintentional influences of a researcher’s behaviour or
characteristics on the performance of the participants. For example:
• Physical characteristics (e.g. age, gender and ethnic origin).
• Behaviour such as verbal communication (e.g. tone of voice, accent), or non-verbal
communication (e.g. smiling, eye contact).
• Expectations about the outcome of a study.

Question 3

How do you reduce investigator effects?

Answer 3

Use a Double-Blind Technique: Neither the participant nor the investigator is aware of
the true aims or details of the investigation, so have no expectations.
• Use Standardised Instructions: This decreases the possibility that the investigator can
communicate expectations. Researchers can be trained to use a neutral tone for reading
instructions. For interviews a standardised script can be used.

Question 4

What is a piolet study?

Answer 4

A pilot study is a small-scale trial run of a study which takes place before the real
investigation is carried out.
The aim of pilot studies is:
• To check that the procedures, materials and measuring scales work.
• To allow the researcher to make changes or modification to the design if necessary.
• To improve the quality of research, help avoid unnecessary work, save time and money.

Question 5

What are the two techniques used in pilot study ?

Answer 5

Questionnaires and interviews: a pilot study can involve trying out questions in advance
to be able to re-word or remove any that are confusing.
• Observational studies: a pilot study can check the behavioural categories and coding
systems are suitably operationalised and used reliably across an observational team