Question

To test whether people in bars drink more when they are in groups than when they are alone, researchers visited all the pubs in a city. they ordered beers and recorded observations on napkins and pieces of newspaper. why did they keep their identities in disguise?

Answer 1

To test whether people in bars drink more when they are in groups than when they are alone, researchers visited all the pubs in a city. They ordered beers and recorded observations on napkins and pieces of newspaper. They kept their identities in disguise because if they had revealed that their purpose was to conduct an experiment on the behaviors of the people in the bar, it might have triggered that some people changed their usual attitudes.

Answer 2

The researchers kept their identities secret because, if they had revealed that their purpouse was to conduct an experiment on the behaviours of the people in the bar, it might have triggered that some people changed their usual attitudes because they know that their 'figures' will be kept in a record.

Maybe some people will drink less as they feel embarrased if some other person is testing how many beers they end. Others, might want to prove themselves 'strong' and drink much more than usual. People change their behaviour sometimes when they are aware that they are watched. This is called the observer effect.