bogus pipeline

n. In bogus pipeline studies, social psychologists deceive participants by (falsely) making them believe they are strapped to a lie-detector machine. The machines are elaborate, but fake devices that participants are told can measure their feelings. The bogus pipeline paradigm has been used to avoid effects of social desirability (presenting oneself in a manner that seems favorable), a major problem with self-report data. Findings from bogus pipeline studies show that social desirability may dramatically skew responses on a host of sensitive issues. Researchers have demonstrated much higher affirmative response rates among bogus pipeline participants when compared to participants who are not strapped to an ostensibly lie-detecting machine, on issues such as drug and alcohol use, oral sex, and smoking. Bogus pipeline studies suggest that research participants are less than truthful under most circumstances, especially when asked about sensitive issues. These data have been invoked by researchers who argue that self-report measures, which are among the most common type of data collected by psychologists, are inherently flawed and should be carefully scrutinized and interpreted with extreme caution.

- MWP