Eye Tracking Methodology by Andrew T. Duchowski

Author:Andrew T. Duchowski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

17.2 Forms of Inquiry

Coolican (1996) defines investigation as a general term for any study that seeks information (usually to test a hypothesis). An experiment is a particular form of study where, in general, all possible causes of variation in the effect being measured are eliminated except the one influence under investigation. The general rule of thumb is to vary one thing while keeping everything else constant. Ensuring that all other conditions are equal except the main effect suggests gaining control of the experiment. This is the key concern of experimental designs: how to ensure that only one condition is varied and all else is held constant. This may sound simple but it is not. Even in fairly highly controlled settings such as laboratories, there are still many factors that may influence the outcome of experiments. Simple and mundane considerations such as whether study participants performed their given tasks before or after lunch may matter. The degree to which conditions are controllable will determine the type of experiment (or nonexperiment) being conducted.

There are a few different dimensions that specify different forms of experimental designs, including:Experiments versus observational studies

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