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The Hawthorne Effect has become a well publicized phenomenon. It states that by merely participating in a test, trial or study the participants (or patients) have a better experience because of the focusing of interest toward them which is gratifying and thus rewarding in its own sake. For this reason the persons involved document better results irregardless of the change provided or the treatment experienced. The designation "Hawthorne" derives from a number of studies which were performed on workers at the Western Electric Plant in Cicero, Illinois, in 1927. One of the studies was in regard to improved lighting which was found to significantly improve worker productivity. Rather than simply accept this data one investigator decided to repeat the study with decreased lighting and found that this also improved productivity. The conclusion was that it was the attention itself which was the important factor, not the lighting. The original Hawthorne study has been criticized as having been poor science because of flaws in investigational design, subject replacement, lack of control group, etc. While it may very well be a poor scientific study the effect itself is certainly legitimate and continues to be substantiated. In a 1978 study in the Department of Neuroaugmentive Surgery at the Sister Kenny Institute in Minneapolis a series of young adult patients with cerebral palsy were provided with cerebellar neurostimulators to help control their motor dysfunction. All patients reported significantly improved function and all were greatly satisfied with the treatment. Objective testing could not, however, demonstrate an improvement in motor skills or function. The conclusion was that the Hawthorne Effect was applicable in this circumstance due to the attention paid to these patients by the doctors, nurses, and technicians. The Hawthorne Effect clearly points out that even controlled scientific studies which focus only on what is measurable may have inherent flaws. "Good" science must be designed in such a way to attempt to recognize and minimize the influence of effects such as Hawthorne as well as eliminating the effect of bias. Other phenomena such as the "placebo effect" may also exist but are so vague that their influence can not be predicted. In providing health care it has been found that the application of the Hawthorne Effect has been able to add to the patients good result as well as their satisfaction with the treatment. This simply means that the more attention provided by the practitioner to the patient the better the end result. It also helps to explain the dissatisfaction of individuals treated disrespectfully in socialized health care systems exemplified by Canada and England. |
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