Sociology · Oct / Nov 2018 · Paper 12 · Question 1

Source A A famous study by Elton Mayo was conducted in the USA in the 1920’s. The study was done in the Hawthorne factory. Mayo was asked to observe a group of workers and conduct a series of experiments. This was to allow the owners of the factory to create the best possible working conditions for them to get the most amount of work completed by their employees. To do this Mayo experimented with: • the levels of heating • the levels of lighting • the length of rest breaks. Mayo discovered that, no matter how the working conditions changed, the amount of work completed always increased. The possible explanations for this were: 1. The working conditions make little difference to the way people work. 2. Mayo’s presence changed the behaviour of the workers.

Read automatically from the paper; the printed page above is exact.