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EXTRAMURAL ENGLISH ACTIVITIES AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES
to selective memory (they might remember or might not remember specific
events or experiences), exaggeration (they might attribute more significance
to something that is only suggested) and attribution (they might feel that
positive outcomes happen because of themselves and negative outcomes occur
due to external forces) (Cohen et al. 2018). Furthermore, the researcher behind
this research project is also a human being, so from the researcher’s point of
view, personal bias was to be avoided, but even with the external help of other
researchers (e.g., with the coding, etc.), a certain degree of subjectivity may be
found in the interpretation of the collected (qualitative) data.
Finally, social desirability bias (Militades 2008) and the so-called Hawthorne
effect are also possible project limitations (Dôrnyei 2007). Participants often
feel that there are certain answers, behavior patterns or attitudes they are
expected to have (social desirability bias), and therefore, they might not share
their honest opinion or view on something but provide answers that they think
they are expected to give. A closely related issue is when participants over¬
report the socially desirable attitude in a questionnaire or an interview, for
instance, and underreport the socially less desirable ones. This could have
influenced the data collected in the project. In addition, participants may alter
their behavior and act differently if they know they are being observed (Haw¬
thorne effect) (Shaughnessy et al. 2011).
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