Multiple sessions with same subjects using MediaLab?
Multiple sessions with same subjects using MediaLab?
[edited from sales email]
I am considering using your MediaLab software for my experimental studies and I am very impressed so far. Still, my designs are usually complex and include three even four phases. What I would like to know is whether MediaLab can collect data in several phases (different points in time) from same participants. Stated differently, I would like the participants to be able to come back two weeks after they have taken the first phase of the study, put in their ID numbers, at which point the software would lead them to the second phase. At the end I would like all phases to be recorded for each respondent under that specific respondent's ID. Can the software accommodate this type of design where respondents provide responses in multiple time periods? Can the software recognize the respondent by his or her ID and provide the next phase? Thanks a lot for your help. This is a crucial question that would tell me whether this would be a type of software that I would try to push in my department.
Normally what researchers do in this kind of situation is create multiple experiments (either different or identical depending on the need) and use the subject ID as a merging variable later (e.g., in SPSS). So, generally, yes, this is not a problem. It gets a bit more complicated if there are contingencies that need to be carried from one session to another. Say a subject scores high in self esteem during session one which, in session three, will mean he or she gets some measure intended only for high self-esteem subjects. That kind of stuff can also be accomplished but it's a bit trickier.
