I'm looking for a word that describes how simply measuring something changes it

Solution 1:

In physics we call them observer effects, the classic ones are:

1. In order to measure a current you need to couple either directly or inductively to the circuit, which inherently changes the current running through the circuit. For example if you are using a multimeter to measure resistance, there is an observer effect that gets stronger if the resistance you're measuring is larger than the resistance of your multimeter: more current is going through your multimeter than is going through the object you're investigating.

2. In order to measure a quantum system, for example the "which way" information of a double-slit experiment, you generally need to entangle another system with that system so that measuring the other system reveals information about the quantum system under study. It turns out that entanglement and quantum coherence are twin sisters that are never seen in the same room at the same time -- the better you are at measuring this information, the less waviness is seen in the results of that system.