Expectancy effects in social validation methodology: are there differential expectations for employees with mental retardation?
Who fills out your social-validation survey can shift the numbers, so sample mix is part of the method.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team sent a short survey to three groups: employers, service providers, and university students.
Each person rated the work skills of employees with intellectual disability.
The goal was to see if past experience with disability changed the scores.
What they found
Overall, experience did not move the total score up or down.
Yet small group differences showed up. Employers and providers gave slightly different marks than students.
The mixed pattern means who you ask can tilt the results.
How this fits with other research
Carr et al. (2002) used the same survey style and also found stakeholder views matter. Their microswitch study showed positive ratings, while ours shows mixed ratings—different topics, same lesson.
Werner (2015) found calm feelings cut social distance toward adults with ID. Our study adds that calm experience does not erase all rating gaps.
Weiss et al. (2001) showed context boosts reliability when judging affect. Our work says context of prior contact only partly steadies work-skill ratings.
Why it matters
When you run a social-validation check, mix your respondents. Add employers, staff, and naive raters. Report each group separately so the team sees where consensus starts and stops.
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Join Free →Add a short demographic line to every social-validity form that asks, "Past experience with ID: none, some, extensive," then split results by that line.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although the social validation methodology has been found useful in identifying work skills associated with job success, it is uncertain as to whether respondents who have had experience working with persons with mental retardation respond differentially to surveys than individuals without previous experience. In the present study, the responses of respondents who had prior experience working with employees with mental retardation were compared to those of persons without such experience. Also, the effects of specified verbal referents in surveys were investigated. The findings revealed that prior experience did not appear to affect ratings; however, several differences were identified. The findings are discussed in respect to employment preparation programs.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1991 · doi:10.1016/0891-4222(91)90036-r