cover story
a plausible but false statement about the purpose of a research study given to research participants to avoid disclosing to them the true hypothesis being investigated. Such deception may be practiced when the participants’ behavior in the study is apt to be affected by knowledge of the experiment’s true purpose. For ethical reasons, the deception should not flagrantly violate the participants’ right to know what they will be getting into by taking part in the investigation; that is, the deception should not lead participants into harmful, embarrassing, risky, or otherwise compromising behavior. Participants should be debriefed about the cover story as soon as is feasible. See deception research.