Emphasis on Experimental Procedure, Sex of Subjects and the Biasing Effects of Experimental Hypotheses

Abstract

For a set of 20 male graduate student Es, the experimental hypotheses held were significant partial determinants of the responses Ss produced for Es. This effect of Es' hypotheses was more marked among Es made more conscious of their experimental procedure when collecting data from female Ss. Male Ss were found to be less susceptible than female Ss to the biasing effects of Es' hypotheses. Unexpected was the finding that for a minority of Es (15%) the data they obtained from their Ss were significantly opposite to the data they expected to obtain.