Demand Characteristic

Definition:

Demand characteristic refers to a potential bias or influence that participants may exhibit during a research study due to their awareness and comprehension of the goals, objectives, or hypotheses being investigated by the researchers. It refers to the tendency of participants to respond in a manner that they perceive aligns with what they believe the researchers expect or desire.

Understanding Demand Characteristics

Context:

Demand characteristics are typically considered within the field of psychology and other social sciences, where researchers conduct experiments or studies that involve human participants. The presence of demand characteristics can confound the results and compromise the validity and reliability of the findings.

Examples:

• A research study is investigating the effects of a new medication on anxiety levels. If the participants are aware that the medication is intended to be therapeutic and decrease anxiety, they may exhibit a response bias towards reporting reduced anxiety levels, even if they did not experience any actual improvement.
• In an observational study examining the eating habits of individuals, if participants know they are being observed and that the researchers are interested in healthy eating, they may be more likely to choose healthier food options during the study period, resulting in an inaccurate representation of their actual eating habits.

Minimizing the Influence of Demand Characteristics:

• Double-blind procedures: Researchers can utilize double-blind procedures where neither the participants nor the experimenters know the true hypothesis or condition during data collection, reducing the chances of participants altering their behavior based on demand characteristics.
• Deception: In some cases, researchers may intentionally deceive participants about the true purpose or nature of the study to minimize demand characteristics. However, ethical considerations must be carefully addressed when employing deceptive practices.
• Task or cover stories: Researchers can provide participants with a task or cover story that masks the actual research objectives, preventing participants from adjusting their responses to fulfill perceived expectations.
• Control group comparison: Including a control group that does not receive any intervention or treatment allows for a comparison against the experimental group, helping researchers identify potential demand characteristic biases.