2. Project Overview

This section describes the application of research methods as it pertains to current and anticipated projects. If you have experience with research methods, whether coursework or other lab experience, or if you have none, I encourage you to read closely and generate questions. Even the process of running quality experiments is a process, and your feedback is helpful in understanding why something works, or how it could work better.

Design experiment

At it's basic level, an experiment is the translation of a research question into the relationship between some manipulation, and observable behavior. At the design stage we want to come up with a clear, meaningful manipulation, and a clear, meaningful measurement. This phase is informed by prior research, similar studies, and exploration.

Historically, my studies realize these aspects of design in predictable ways, that will save all of us the task of reinventing the wheel.

Example generic design: *Research question: Does the color of an object influence the order of the object's mention in a sentence? *Manipulation: Differently colored objects. *Observable behavior: The order of mention in sentences people say when asked to describe the object.

• Stimuli are controlled for visual features (all made the same), normed if necessary.
  • Something better than pixton
  • Python scripts
• IV and controls: Counterbalance made; experimental versions made.
  • Python scripts or excel
• Experiment design
  • Eprime or python
  • DV and controls: measures in place and tested.

Set up, run experiment