I will run an experiment in which 30 participants will be getting to know 3 designs and then choosing their preference. I don't want to tire them too much. What is the optimal length of the perception studies like that.
I was thinking in framing it withing 1 hour. Is there any literature to support this?
I dont think there is any theory that will give you an authoritative answer to this important question, Surely though this is a prime example of the need for a pilot study? I am a great believer in these in our field. Ss try finding a number that feels right to you and run it with a small sample not to get data but to answer your question. Of course you then need to follow it up witht eh participants to get their views on this question.
I second Bryan Lawson and I would suggest to run a pilot to find an appropriate time. I believe that participants can do a one hour experiment but they may get tired.
Dear Agnieszka.
Here it goes a comment from a Portuguese colleague to a Taillandian colleague.
I do not know of any theory that can offer an answer to your question, optimal experimental length. So, some good sense (note that science often theorizes about common sense; see, for, this respect, Wittgenstein's oeuvre) should here be taken into account.
As I see it, a short answer to your question would be to say that the answer depends, among other things, on three main parameters. (a) age of participants, (b) what the design is about, and (c) experimenter's experience and ability to conduct research.
I would say that, for example, to interview a young child for an hour would be too much and his/her answers whatever can be taken seriously because it would be difficult to separate, say, "spontaneous and true" answers from "boring and tiring" answers. This would not be the case for an adoescent or an adult. See, for, this respect, Piaget's theory and his distinction between "spontaneous" thinking and "suggested" thinking.
If you run an experimenter on one's conception of education, then to interviewer a professor/student for an hour would not constitute a problem. This would not be the case if you interviewed on this issue, say, a layperson in terms of education. See, for this respect, Deci's theory of self-determination and his distinction between extrinsically and intrinsically-motivated individuals.
If you are a trained experimenter/interviewer it is likely that you are able to capture participants' attention for longer than if you are an un-skilled experimenter/interviewer. I even say that an unskilled experimenter/interviewer is no experimenter or interviewer at all. See also, for this, respect, Piaget's theory, namely his famous clinical method. It is alleged that Piaget, because of his competence on the child's psychology, was able to capture a young child's attention for an unthinkable length of time even on issues that are not interesting in themselves, the existence of clouds, for example.
There are certainly other factors that should be taken into account while one runs an experimental on humans and even non-humans, such as pigeons in a Skinnerian experiment.
I hope that my three considerations may be of some help to you.
Best regards.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Psychology
- Social Psychology