"When I was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, I had the great fortune to be mentored by Robert Rosenthal, who passed away in 2024. His courses on Research Methods and Statistics were epic, and his research was groundbreaking. For over 50 years, he studied how experimenters' expectations can influence research outcomes and how clinicians' expectations can affect patients' mental and physical health. He taught me how to think like a scientist, and I am writing this article in his memory to honor his remarkable contributions to science and critical thinking."
"When reviewing research articles, it is essential to think in terms of rival hypotheses, which are alternative explanations for observed results. For example, if a study finds that immigrants are more likely to start small businesses, a rival hypothesis could be that the effect is actually due to local economic conditions or the availability of community support networks, rather than something specific about immigrants."
"In addition to rival hypotheses, critical thinkers should consider experimental and researcher effects that can subtly influence results. Robert Rosenthal's work highlights factors such as experimenter expectations, participant awareness, or subtle cues that may affect outcomes. These effects occur when the behavior, attitudes, or responses of participants are unintentionally shaped by the way a study is conducted or by the researchers themselves. Understanding these influences helps readers recognize that reported results may reflect not only the variables being studied but also the context and interactions"
Robert Rosenthal studied for over fifty years how experimenter and clinician expectations influence research outcomes and patients' mental and physical health. Mentorship and rigorous instruction in research methods fostered scientific thinking. Critical evaluation of findings requires generating rival hypotheses as alternative explanations, such as local economic conditions, community support, reverse causation, or measurement error in studies reporting higher immigrant entrepreneurship. Experimental and researcher effects include experimenter expectations, participant awareness, and subtle cues that unintentionally shape behavior, attitudes, or responses. Systematic consideration of these factors prevents premature causal claims and helps distinguish true effects from artifacts arising from study context and interactions.
Read at Psychology Today
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