What is the Hawthorne Effect?

According to the Hawthorne Effect, subjects of an experiment or research are more likely to modify or improve their behavior due to the experiment itself than anything else. Organizational researchers discovered it in the 1920s. Recent research reveals that the Hawthorne Effect may not exist and that the original study was erroneous.

Hawthorne Effect Mechanism

People change their conduct when watched, according to the Hawthorne Effect. The effect is named after one of Western Electric’s most renowned industrial history experiments in the late 1920s and early 1930s in Hawthorne, Chicago. However, further evaluations of the effect showed that the original results were likely overblown and that the study’s concept and execution were flawed.

Initial trials by the National Research Council examined how shop-floor illumination affected worker productivity at a telephone component manufacturer in Hawthorne. The researchers were surprised that productivity increased with better and worse illumination. Changes in working hours and breaks increased productivity.

The researchers found that improving working conditions did not impact productivity, but rather that someone was worried enough to experiment.

Hawthorne Effect and Modern Research

Humans regularly participate in research. Researchers must consider the Hawthorne Effect, an inherent bias, while analyzing their data. Although it’s tough to predict how a subject’s study knowledge affects their conduct, researchers should be aware of this and adjust appropriately.

While there is no uniform approach, expertise and careful observation can help researchers avoid tainting their data.

Although it’s tough to predict how a subject’s study knowledge affects their conduct, researchers should be aware of this and adjust appropriately.

Medical Practice: Hawthorne Effect

A 1978 study to test if cerebellar neurostimulators may alleviate motor dysfunction in juvenile cerebral palsy patients illustrates the Hawthorne Effect. Patients reported reduced motor dysfunctions and acceptance of the therapy in objective tests. However, patient feedback contradicted the quantitative study, which showed minimal motor function improvement.

The enhanced human connection with physicians, nurses, therapists, and other medical staff throughout these studies had an excellent psychological influence on patients, which led to their illusion of physical benefits. There was no indication that cerebellar neurostimulators were effective, so researchers decided that the Hawthorne effect distorted the data.

Is the effect natural?

Business schools and sociology courses worldwide teach the Hawthorne Effect, but new research questions its validity. Scientific American reports that just one of the first three studies enhanced production, while the second did not, and the third decreased output. The research sponsors ordered the deletion of all data, including that supplied to MIT, and no report, which is odd. Several researchers disproved the first conclusions once the data resurfaced. Additionally, contemporary Hawthorne Effect replications have failed. Only seven of the 40 investigations found an impact.

The Hawthorne Effect—Why?

The Hawthorne Works plant complex near Chicago, IL, hosted the first research.

Original Hawthorne Study Flaws

This effect of research has significant faults, according to scholars. For one, the sample size was five workers. Over time, sample members changed. The lack of blinding may have influenced the study’s researchers. Even if the data was sound, it seemed misconstrued.

Conclusion

• Due to the Hawthorne Effect, experimental volunteers try to adjust their behavior to improve it.
• The name originated from the late 1920s and early 1930s tests at Western Electric’s Hawthorne facility.
• The effect is inherent in human investigations and trials.
• Whether the Hawthorne Effect exists is debatable.