Is it wise to tell participants the experiment's true purpose?
A)No,because participants may change their behavior as a result of learning the true purpose of the experiment.
B)Yes,because telling participants the experiment's true purpose is always required by institutional review boards.
C)Yes,because participants do not change their behavior as a result of learning the true purpose of the experiment.
D)Yes,because revealing the exact purpose of the experiment does not make participants react in ways that are artificially consistent with the study hypotheses.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

It is generally not wise to tell participants the exact purpose of the experiment because it can lead to participants altering their behavior in ways that are not natural, thus altering the validity of the study's findings. This is known as the Hawthorne effect. However, there may be exceptions to this rule in certain circumstances where full disclosure is required by institutional review boards or other ethical considerations.

Is It Wise to Tell Participants the Experiment's True Purpose