Topic summary
Hawthorne Studies
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Hawthorne effect.
History
The term "Hawthorne effect" was coined in 1953 by John R. P. French after the Hawthorne studies were conducted between 1924 and 1932 at the Hawthorne Works (a Western Electric factory in Cicero, outside Chicago). The Hawthorne Works had commissioned a study to determine if its workers would become more productive in brighter or dimmer levels of light. The workers' productivity seemed to improve when changes were made but returned to their original level when the study ended. It has been alternatively suggested that the workers' productivity increased because they were motivated by interest being shown in them.