Running Behavioral Experiments with Human Participants : A Practical Guide for Students

by Frank Ritter

• ISBN13: 9781452217420
• ISBN10: 1452217424
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-11-08
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

This text provides a concrete roadmap for the design and implimentation of experiments using human participants. It covers both conceptual and practical issues that are critical to experimental methods and the organization of the book follows the standard process in experiment-based research. Both students and instructors will find this book accessible and easy to use. The detailed guidance on each step of an experiment is particularly useful for people with little or no previous training in research methodology. Further, the example studies will serve as effective 'recipes' to help students organize their experimental studies. Features: Shows students how to prepare to run experiments covering important topics such as how to recruit participants, maintainance of apparatus, and what to measure from the experiment A separate chapter on ethics examines ethical considerations necessary for running experiments with human participants A separate chapter covers essential information on IRBs (Institutional Review Boards) Provides example studies with a brief synopsis of procedural steps. so that students can learn detailed procedures for preparing and running an experiment.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
About the Authors	p. xix
Introduction	p. 1
Background	p. 1
Overview of the Research Process	p. 5
Overview of the Running Examples	p. 11
Further Readings	p. 15
Questions	p. 16
Summary Questions	p. 16
Thought Questions	p. 17
Preparation for Running Experiments	p. 19
Reading Literature in the Area	p. 19
Preparing the Apparatus and Materials, Design, and Procedure Through Piloting	p. 21
Care, Control, Use, and Maintenance of Apparatus	p. 22
The Testing Facility	p. 26
Choice of Dependent Measures: Performance, Time, Actions, Errors, Verbal Protocols, and Other Measures	p. 28
Plan Data Collection With Analysis in Mind	p. 34
Run Analyses With Pilot Data	p. 36
Write About Your Experiment Before Running	p. 37
Preparing for Recruiting	p. 37
Choice of a Term: Participants or Subjects	p. 37
Recruiting Participants	p. 39
Subject Pools and Class-Based Participation	p. 41
Institutional Review Board (IRB)	p. 43
What Needs IRB Approval?	p. 44
Preparing an IRB Submission	p. 46
Preparing to Run the Low Vision HCI Study	p. 48
Preparing to Run the HRI Study	p. 52
Conclusion	p. 53
Further Readings	p. 54
Questions	p. 55
Summary Questions	p. 55
Thought Questions	p. 56
Potential Ethical Problems	p. 57
Preamble: A Simple Study That Hurt Somebody	p. 59
The History and Role of Ethics Reviews	p. 60
Recruiting Subjects	p. 61
Coerning Subjects	p. 61
Risks, Costs, and Benefits of Participation	p. 62
Sensitive Data	p. 63
Plagiarism	p. 66
Fraud	p. 66
Conflicts of Interest	p. 67
Authorship and Data Ownership	p. 68
Interpersonal Conflicts Within a Research Team	p. 69
Potential Ethical Problems in the Low Vision HCI Study	p. 71
Potential Ethical Problems in the Multilingual Fonts Study	p. 73
Conclusion	p. 75
Further Readings	p. 75
Questions	p. 76
Summary Questions	p. 76
Thought Questions	p. 76
Risks to Validity to Avoid While Running an Experiment	p. 79
Validity Defined: Internal, External, Construct, and Surface	p. 81
Risks to Internal Validity	p. 83
Power: How Many Participants?	p. 84
Experimenter Effects	p. 86
Participant Effects	p. 87
Demand Characteristics	p. 88
Equipment and Setup Effects	p. 89
Randomization and Counterbalancing	p. 89
Abandoning the Task	p. 91
Risks to External Validity	p. 92
Task Fidelity	p. 92
Representativeness of Your Sample	p. 94
Avoiding Risks in the Multilingual Fonts Study	p. 95
Avoiding Risks in the HRI Study	p. 96
Conclusion	p. 97
Further Readings	p. 97
Questions	p. 98
Summary Questions	p. 98
Thought Questions	p. 98
Running a Research Session	p. 99
Preparing to Run a Research Session	p. 99
Preparing the Space for Your Study	p. 99
Piloting	p. 102
Experimental Dress Code	p. 103
Preparing and Using a Script	p. 104
Before Subjects Arrive	p. 104
Running a Research Session	p. 106
Welcome	p. 106
Talking With Subjects	p. 106
Concluding a Session	p. 108
Running Simulated Subjects	p. 112
Other Issues	p. 112
Missing Subjects	p. 112
Other Problems and How to Deal With Them	p. 113
Chance for Insights	p. 114
Running the Low Vision HCI Study	p. 115
Running the Multilingual Fonts Study	p. 116
Running the HRI Study	p. 117
Conclusion	p. 118
Further Readings	p. 118
Questions	p. 119
Summary Questions	p. 119
Thought Questions	p. 119
Concluding a Study	p. 121
Data Care, Security, and Privacy	p. 121
Data Backup	p. 122
Data Analysis	p. 123
Documenting the Analysis Process	p. 123
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics	p. 124
Planned Versus Exploratory Data Analysis	p. 127
Displaying Your Data	p. 127
Communicating Your Results	p. 128
Research Outlets	p. 128
The Writing Process	p. 129
Concluding the Low Vision HCI Study	p. 130
Concluding the Multilingual Fonts Study	p. 131
Concluding the HRI Study	p. 132
Conclusion	p. 133
Further Readings	p. 133
Questions	p. 134
Summary Questions	p. 134
Thought Questions	p. 134
Afterword	p. 137
A Checklist for Preparing Studies	p. 139
Example Scripts for Running Studies	p. 141
A High-Level Script for a Human-Computer Interaction Study	p. 141
A More Detailed Script for a Cognitive Psychology Experiment	p. 143
Example Consent Form	p. 145
Example Debriefing Form	p. 149
Example Institutional Review Board Application	p. 151
Considerations When Running a Study Online	p. 167
Recruiting Subjects	p. 167
Apparatus	p. 168
Gaming Your Apparatus	p. 169
Further Readings	p. 169
References	p. 171
Index	p. 179
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