week 5

History of Hawthorne Effect

Hawthorne Effect studies were first undertaken near Chicago between 1924-1933. McCambridge,(2014), states that it was observing the productivity among a group of workers under a research project. The group were supervised intensely be managers and the Hawthorne effect concerns research participation as you have consequent awareness that you are being studied and it impacts your behavior.

Definition of Hawthorne Effect

The effect was first described in the 1950s by researcher Henry A. Landsberger. Landsberger defined the Hawthorne effect as a short-term improvement in performance caused by observing workers. This effect is generally defined as the problem in field experiments that the person that is being observed has knowledge that they are in an experiment and modifies their behavior from what it would have been without the knowledge (Adair, 1984). Some people may tend to work harder or perform better when they know they are being watched during experiments. The effect is named after the Western Electric’s Hawthorne Works electric company which is outside of Hawthorne, Illinois.

Example of Hawthorne Effect

Why is it important for researchers to know about this?

Strategies to avoid the Hawthorne Effect (at least two)

Step 1 – Timeline. You’re measuring how changes to process impact productivity, so the obvious step is to extend the timeline of the project to request that changes are maintained over a longer period of time. 

Step 2 – Human nature.  It is reasonably well known that our attitude is changeable and counterfeit when we are being observed.  Some employees might want to do their best, when others will slacken off to create a low benchmark level.

Step 3 – Communication.  The process will be much more realistic if you communicate clearly from the beginning why you are doing this.  If employees think you are trying to be more efficient in order to lay off staff then it seems unlikely you’ll get a true reflection of how people work.  The same is true if people think you will just be asking them to work harder for no extra money.  If you can communicate how this will benefit them however it will show through in your results.

Strategies to avoid the Hawthorne Effect (at least two)