Whataretheadvantagesofdoinginternetresearch?

　　Abilitytoobtainalargesample,whichincreasesstatisticalpower

　　Abilitytoobtainamorediversesamplethanintraditionaluniversity-basedresearch

　　Preventsexperimenterdemandeffects(withnointeractionwiththeexperimenter,no"experimenterexpectancy"effect)

　　Dataisautomaticallycodedsonodataentryerrors

　　Cansampleindividualsbeyondyourschoolssubjectpool

　　Reducedcostofconductingresearch

　　[edit]Whatarethedisadvantagesofdoinginternetresearch?

　　(andtipstoovercomethem)

　　Somesubjectsmaytrytoparticipantinthesamestudymorethanonce

　　Toovercomethisproblem,youcanaskfortheemailaddressesofeachparticipant,andthenlookforduplicates.

　　Sincenowadaysitseasyforpeopletocreatemultipleemailaddresses,youcanalsoaskfornameand/oraddressofeachsubject.Sometimesresearcherswillhavea"lottery"asincentivetoparticipate(e.g.,$100lotteryprizeforeach400participants),soaskingforname/addressisnecessarytoawardthelotterycheck.

　　YoucanalsocollecttheIPaddressofeachparticipantandlookforduplicates.OneissuehereisthatsometimesDSLprovidersgivethesameIPaddresstomultiplepeople.

　　Somesubjectsmaydropoutofthestudybeforefinishing

　　Intraditionallaboratory-basedresearchitsunusualforasubjecttowalkoutofastudy,butonlineasubjectcangetdistractedorsimplyloseinterestandendthestudy.Sometimesresearcherswillhavea"lottery"asincentivetohavethesubjectparticipateinthestudy,butwithanytypeofmonetaryincentiveIRB'stypicallyrequireastatementintheconsentformsayingsomethingtotheeffectof"youmaydiscontinueparticipationatanytimewithoutanyconsequencesorlosingyourentryinthelottery."

　　Sinceacertainnumberofonlinesubjectswontfinishthestudy,youcanovercollectthenumberofsubjectsyouthinkyouneedtooffsetthenumberofsubjectswhodontfinishthestudy,usuallyaround10-20%.

　　Somesubjectsmaystopthestudyandthencontinueminutes/hourslater

　　Theproblemhereisthatsomestudiesinvolvemanipulationswhichmaylosepowerifthereisatimelagbetweenthemanipulationandmeasuresinthestudy.Oneadvantageofonlinestudiesisthatyoucanrecordhowlongthesubjectistakingpartinthestudy,soyoucanidentifytheaveragelengthoftimeofyourstudy,andalsoidentifythosesubjectswhotakeanextrordinarylongamountoftimetofinishthestudy.

　　Somesubjectsmayrushthroughthestudy

　　Sinceyoucanrecordhowlongeachsubjectisparticipatinginthestudy,youcanidentifythosesubjectswhomayhaverushedthroughthestudy.

　　HowdoIgetsubjectsformyonlinestudy?

　　Thereisnosingleanswertothisquestionandyoumayhavetotryanumberofthingsbeforeyoufindsomethingthatworksforyourstudy,dependingonthesubjectmatterandincentivesyouareoffering.SeeHowtorecruitsubjectsonline?foranongoingdiscussionofsubjectrecruitment.