The Expectancy Effect in Anthropological Research

An Experimental Study of Riddle Collection

Bibliographic Data

ID2464998
AuthorsGary Alan Fine (0000-0002-2431-1562, University of Minnesota), Beverly J Crane, B Crane
Year1977
Volume4
Issue3
Pages517-524
Publication date1977-08-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Ethnologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0094-0496 • E-ISSN: 1548-1425
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1525/ae.1977.4.3.02a00070
OpenAlexW2004084717
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited19

This study investigates the impact of anthropologists' expectations on the results of empirical field studies. Interviewers were provided with one of three different expectation sets concerning the number of riddles they could expect to collect from a sample of college students. Interviewers then collected riddles from these students, and it was discovered that the more riddles an interviewer expected to collect, the more he or she did collect. Sex of the interviewer and the interviewer's previous experience also influenced the number of riddles collected, as did the size of the room in which the interviewing occurred

Expectancy theory · Interview · Sample (material · Sociology · Anthropology · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Applications · Social Psychology

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access