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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 overreport 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 (Hawthorne effect) (Shaughnessy et al. 2011). * 146 +
