What is the Hawthorne plant experiment?
I can’t answer the whole question, because it’s been a long time, but The Hawthorne Plant study was an experiment in industrial psychology studying (I think) worker productivity in a manufacturing plant. I think one group used a new, supposedly more efficient work process while the other group continued their usual work process. There was a rise in worker productivity in the old process group, as well as the new process group, leading the experimenters to conclude that the experience of being observed, in and of itself, affected the behavior of the experimental group and therefore the outcome of the experiment. They suggested that this factor would need to be accounted for in observational studies. You may know these facts already, but I hope this helps.
