Some researchers have resistÂed the move to online research over the last few years, but the COVID crisis has forced many to switch to online methods. Taking research online brings many benÂeÂfits, that may cause researchers to think twice before autoÂmatÂiÂcalÂly revertÂing back to lab testing.
BenÂeÂfits of online research
- Online data colÂlecÂtion can be comÂpletÂed at an incredÂiÂble speed. The tools for online research are now so good, that it can take only a few hours to create a study. Long gone are the days of painfulÂly coding both the parÂticÂiÂpant and server side expeÂriÂence. Couple this with any number of parÂticÂiÂpant recruitÂment serÂvices and you can see the data come flying in.
- Go large scale and say goodbye to underÂpowÂered studies. As you no longer need to sit in the lab with each indiÂvidÂual parÂticÂiÂpant, mulÂtiÂple parÂticÂiÂpants can comÂplete your experiment simulÂtaÂneÂousÂly, leading to much larger samples. You can get data from thouÂsands of parÂticÂiÂpants in a day!
- Extend your reach and recruit the parÂticÂiÂpants you need. Do you need a more diverse sample? Or a really speÂcifÂic group of parÂticÂiÂpants? InteÂgrate your experiment with a recruitÂment service like ProÂlifÂic or SONA and reach groups that you couldn’t have done in the lab.
BenÂeÂfits of lab research
So with all these benÂeÂfits, why do we stay in the lab? Control! As researchers we like to feel like we’re in control in the lab. We may fear that remainÂing online removes this sense of control. It seems scary to have to trust that our parÂticÂiÂpants will pay attenÂtion to the task we give them — espeÂcialÂly if we’re not there to keep things on track. It’s scary to think about all the reasons why we may need to exclude parÂticÂiÂpants, and to come up with a list of pre-defined excluÂsion criteria.
But in reality, these are things we should be thinkÂing about anyway. Perhaps we don’t have full control in the lab after all — perhaps the control is just an illusion.
The illuÂsion of control
When a parÂticÂiÂpant comes into the lab we can interÂact with them and watch them comÂplete the task. We can make sure they are in a quiet, disÂtracÂtion-free room, and sat at a senÂsiÂble work space. Yet, we cannot control where their attenÂtion is focussed. They may look like they are paying attenÂtion to the task, but perhaps they are day dreamÂing or just not taking it seriÂousÂly, and you can often only see this in the data later on in the research process.
Online we can ask parÂticÂiÂpants to find a quiet space, but we can never be sure if they have done this. Again this is someÂthing that we wouldn’t necÂesÂsarÂiÂly spot until we look at the data.
But if this is someÂthing that is hapÂpenÂing both in lab research and online research then we should be thinkÂing about how we can deal with this issue. The best way to do this is through strong pilotÂing of your study and working out objecÂtive excluÂsion criÂteÂria based on data quality. From this we can pre-regÂisÂter our criÂteÂria strengthÂenÂing the trust other sciÂenÂtists can have in our work.
Pre-regÂisÂterÂing eleÂments of our study like this is someÂthing that does actuÂalÂly give us some control over our research – thinkÂing about these things ahead of data colÂlecÂtion and analyÂsis is incredÂiÂbly imporÂtant. More insight into mainÂtainÂing data quality when you can’t see your parÂticÂiÂpants can be found in Jenni Rodd’s BeOnÂline 2020 lecture.
The pain of face-to-face testing
Many types of behavÂiourÂal science research involves working with one parÂticÂiÂpant at a time, and bringÂing them to the lab. Maybe you can book 2 parÂticÂiÂpants in per day, so to get a sample of 100 parÂticÂiÂpants, that will be 50 days – but that’s only if every person turns up. Add in weekÂends and no-shows, you’re looking at around 2 months of data collection.
Instead imagine putting your study online and colÂlectÂing data from 500 parÂticÂiÂpants in one hour. Even if you had to exclude say 10% due to poor data quality, that’s still 450 parÂticÂiÂpants in one hour. The amount of time and stress saved is immense! Many PhD stuÂdents are funded using public funds, and so this time saving is also a cost saving and allows PhDs to focus on better experiment design or on task that will benefit their future research objectives.
The flexÂiÂbilÂiÂty embedÂded in online research also allows for a more repÂreÂsenÂtaÂtive sample. Often face-to-face lab research will be missing out on parÂticÂiÂpants who are unable to attend the lab during the working day. Going online allows people to comÂplete your study at a time that suits them, meaning you can get reach parÂticÂiÂpants that othÂerÂwise will not have been accountÂed for.
UnnatÂurÂal behaviour
From another perÂspecÂtive, maybe too much control over parÂticÂiÂpants is a bad thing – we put parÂticÂiÂpants in an artiÂfiÂcial sitÂuÂaÂtion, one that may be very new to them, and then sit and watch them comÂplete a task. This may mean we are no longer getting a measure of ‘natural’ human behavÂiour, but how they respond in difÂferÂent circumstances.
A parÂticÂiÂpant comÂpletÂing a task online cannot have their behavÂiour altered by our presÂence in the same way it could in the lab. In fact, in real life we rarely do one task in isoÂlaÂtion – we often need to focus on one thing in the midst of disÂtracÂtions, and thereÂfore research comÂpletÂed by parÂticÂiÂpants at home may actuÂalÂly be more reflecÂtive of a real-world situation.
Strong benÂeÂfits are becomÂing more evident
As researchers we’re all looking forward to the time when we can go back onto camÂpusÂes and into labs safely. Yet, the illuÂsion of control in lab face-to-face testing is being shatÂtered, and the strong benÂeÂfits of online research are becomÂing more evident. Online research tools allow us to conduct research faster, at larger scale and with greater reach which in turn gives us greater conÂfiÂdence in our results, and it’s here to stay.
Not already online? Why not?! We offer a best pracÂtice guide to online research as well as weekly onboardÂing webiÂnaÂrs, so that researchers can hit the ground running. See you there!