Data collection tool: IA experiment
Some of you have questions about what constitutes an appropriate data collection tool for an IA proposal using an experimental method. To be clear, students do not actually conduct the experiment, but they are expected to create the data collection tool themselves, as if they were going to conduct it. This tool loosely corresponds to the “materials” section of the previous IA.
Examples
Memory
An acceptable IA proposal could involve an experiment or quasi-experiment investigating how a particular independent variable - for example, distraction, age, cognitive overload, or the medium through which material is presented—affects memory in the population of interest. The researcher would need a standardized script or other stimulus for participants to remember, as well as a data collection tool consisting of questions designed to test their memory of that stimulus.
The stimulus may be adapted from a textual source, such as an article or book. However, the data collection tool is a questionnaire used to assess participants’ memory, which must be created by the student.
Exercise
If a student wants to propose an experiment that measures the effect of exercise on mood, they will need a data collection method that allows participants to self-report their mood after a set amount of exercise or after being in the “resting” control group. In this case, mood will need to be operationalized carefully to enable the student researcher to design a valid set of questions.
The basic rule is that materials used in the procedure, and often manipulated to form the independent variable, may be adapted from materials available online, but this should be noted and referenced. However, the data-collection tool used to measure the dependent variable must be developed by the student.
Replications?
While there is nothing that says a student may not put in a proposal that involves a replication of a published experiment, there are two issues associated with this: firstly, there has to be a problem affecting a population of interest that can be resolved or partly resolved through a practical or policy action, and many experiments will not give students enough to write about this in their discussion section. The second issue is that the data collection tool has to be original, and cannot be a copy of the data collection tool from the original study. Because it will measure the same or a similar dependent variable, this may be difficult to ensure.
What can't be done
Many cognitive experiments use memorized word lists, and participants are then given a blank sheet of paper as their data-collection tool. A blank piece of paper cannot be a data collection tool for an IA proposal. Some experiments require timing or verbal responses; again, these need to be avoided, unless the student has clearly created all their own materials.
For an experiment, the materials developed by the student to be used with the participants are also part of the tool, so any word lists, texts to be remembered, picture series, etc. must be created by the student and not standardised lists used anywhere online. The data collection tool will often be some type of questionnaire. So students need to think about their materials before committing to an experiment.
Recommendation
There is nothing really to be gained by proposing an experiment when so many topics lend themselves to surveys or interview/focus group methods, which are much easier for students to write about. So, we suggest that your students at least consider an IA proposal that is a survey or interview/focus group first.