26 Feb What is the “Hawthorne effect,”
1.) What is the “Hawthorne effect,” and how might it impact an experimental design? What are some ways that researchers might control for this effect?
2.) What are the eight sources of internal invalidity? How might they affect the results of a study? With respect to your study, which sources, do you think, would be most problematic? Why? What actions will you take to address these issues?
3.) Why is generalizability a major issue when it comes to experimental designs? Is there anything that researchers can do to improve an experiment’s generalizability? If so, what? If not, why not?
4.) Hansen and Tummers (2020) examine the notion of field experiments as they apply to public administration. What are some of the considerations that researchers must take into account when designing public-sector field experiments? Discuss. Does our second article of the week, by Menger and Stein (2018), take these considerations into account? Is there anything that Menger and Stein could have done to improve their field experiment?
