- Title
- Randomized trial seeking to induce the Hawthorne effect found no evidence for any effect on self-reported alcohol consumption online
- Creator
- McCambridge, Jim; Wilson, Amanda; Attia, John; Weaver, Natasha; Kypri, Kypros
- Relation
- ARC.DP1093809 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP1093809
- Relation
- Journal of Clinical Epidemiology Vol. 108, Issue April 2019, p. 102-109
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2018.11.016
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- Objective: We tested the hypothesis that participants who know the behavioral focus of a study and are thus aware that a particular behavior is being studied will modify that behavior, independently of any possible effect of assessment, thereby dismantling a Hawthorne effect into two putative components. Study Design and Setting: We undertook a three-arm individually randomized trial online among students: group A (control) were told they were completing a lifestyle survey; group B were told the focus of the survey was alcohol consumption; and group C additionally answered 20 questions on their alcohol use and its consequences before answering the same lifestyle questions as Groups A and B. Nondrinkers were excluded, and all groups were aware they would be followed up after 1 month. Results: Outcome data were obtained for 4,583 of 5,478 trial participants (84% follow-up rate). There were no differences between the three groups on primary (overall volume consumed) or secondary outcome measures (drinking frequency and amount per typical occasion) in the intervening 4 weeks. Conclusions: There is no evidence that any form of Hawthorne effect exists in relation to self-reported alcohol consumption online among university students in usual research practice. Attention to study contexts is warranted for investigating research participation effects.
- Subject
- Hawthorne effect; research participation effects; reactivity; alcohol; internet; students
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1398935
- Identifier
- uon:34499
- Identifier
- ISSN:0895-4356
- Rights
- © 2019. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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