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For each of the scenarios below, determine whether the researcher inadvertently allowed the influence of the expectancy effect or the Hawthorne effect

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For each of the scenarios below, determine whether the researcher inadvertently allowed the influence of the expectancy effect or the Hawthorne effect. Then decide how the researcher should change the methodology so that the influence is controlled.

a. A researcher tested the idea that students’ interest and achievement in world geography could be enhanced by Internet dialogue with students across the globe. A special room in the school was set aside for Internet students; also, specially trained consultants were hired for this research to help students individually make links with foreign peers. The invited consultants were also evaluating their own software (which automatically translated one language into another), and each of the participating students was interviewed (and audio-recorded) to determine his or her reactions to the experience. The school’s principal was eager for others to see this new educational opportunity and invited other educational administrators to visit the “Internet room” during international exchanges. After 20 Internet-based geography lessons, students were given an interest questionnaire and an achievement test covering the objectives in the lessons. The researcher arranged for a control group of similar students who received instruction on the same material but in a traditional format. The questionnaires and exams were administered and scored by an impartial “outsider” who had no knowledge of the nature of the research.

b. A researcher was convinced that students could learn complex material much better if they were only provided a good analogy before being exposed to instruction. The topic chosen was genetics; half of the students were given an analogy related to card playing and the other half were not. The researcher gave the 15-minute lecture to small groups of about six students. The following day, all the students were asked to write a short essay explaining how genetics determines human characteristics. The researcher sorted the essays into two piles (the analogy group and the control group). Next the researcher scored each essay using a global 10-point rating scale to measure the students’ general understanding of genetics.