Explain the Effects of participant expectations and researcher bias in qualitative research

Participant expectations Like with quantitative research there does exist demand characteristics (Hawthorne effect). Social Desirability Effect Participant feels they have to respond to questions or behave in a way that meets societal norms. They could be less honest about drug use or sexual practices etc… Explain the Effects of participant expectations and researcher bias in qualitative research

Participant expectations Participants may also want to “help out” the researcher by giving info they think the researcher is “looking for”. Explain the Effects of participant expectations and researcher bias in qualitative research

Researcher expectations Researcher bias is when the researcher fails to maintain objectivity and so their beliefs affect the outcome of the study. Explain the Effects of participant expectations and researcher bias in qualitative research

Inductive Content Analysis this is especially true in inductive content analysis (pulling hypothesis from the data instead of having a hypothesis then testing it). When the researcher is looking for “emerging themes” in the transcript of the interviews, they may look for themes that confirm their pre-existing beliefs. Or when they are facilitating a focus group. Explain the Effects of participant expectations and researcher bias in qualitative research