Reactivity

Reactivity, also known as the observer effect, takes place when the act of doing the research changes the behavior of participants, thereby making the findings of the research subject to error.

Different types of reactivity have been identified. One of the first to be noted, the Hawthorne effect, is [Page 730]associated with experiments conducted by Elton Mayo at the Westinghouse Electric plant in Hawthorne, Illinois, during the 1920s and 1930s. Modifications in working conditions (e.g., changes in lighting) were introduced, and it was observed that productivity increased after each modification. Mayo hypothesized that workers were responding to increased attention received as ...