What is the difference between Active and Passive deception?

Active deception involves intentionally providing inaccurate or false information to participants to seek a more valid result (e.g. the researcher tells participants that they will be completing a task engaged with a described partner of a specific age, race or gender, but instead they will really be interacting with the researcher or other investigator on the team to measure potential biases).

Passive deception or deception by omission involves withholding information, or providing incomplete information, with the intention of misleading the participants about the research purpose or procedures. (e.g. the researcher tells participants that they will be taking a quiz but aren’t told that the researcher will evaluate how background noise affects their ability to concentrate.)

As long as certain conditions are met (e.g., debriefing), this approach is generally considered acceptable, because researchers may not want to reveal their hypotheses to study participants in case this leads them—consciously or unconsciously—to adjust their behavior. (APA standard for use of deception)

Last updated: 2/21/2023