In the last few years, a new method of behavioral research has become available, thanks to the World Wide Web. Those who have explored this new medium of research are enthusiastic about its advantages over traditional methods. Virtually anything that can be done in the laboratory using paper and pencil, a slide projector, or a computer can be done via the Web. The advantages of Web research over paper and pencil research in the lab include:

• Freedom from the constraints of testing people at a particular time and place,

• Automatic coding and construction of data files (no data entry by assistants),

• Opportunity to obtain large and heterogeneous samples,

• Possibility to conduct cross-cultural research without the expense of travelling,

• Opportunity to study specific populations of rare conditions,

• Reduced costs of experimental assistants, and

• Standardization of experimenter effects.

At the same time, there are new issues with this new method: experimental control and sampling of participants.

Research that compares Web and lab results shows a good convergence between the two methods (Krantz & Dalal, in press). In fact, some comparisons show that Web data are of higher quality than lab data (Birnbaum, 1999). Between 1998 and 1999, the number of studies on line has doubled. To get an idea of the kinds of studies currently on the Web, check the American Psychological Society list of Psychological Research on the Net, maintained by John Krantz (http://psych.hanover.edu/APS/exponnet.html). #9;

Even for those investigators who plan to conduct research in the laboratory with college freshmen and sophomores, the Web is a convenient network for collection of data and for making transparent to other scientists exactly how an experiment was conducted. The advantages in convenience of data processing and for open communication among scientists will cause more and more of behavioral research to be done via the Web.

This book presents an introduction to methods and techniques basic to conducting research on the Internet. It will also cover problems unique to this form of research and various ways to handle these potential problems. The book will also teach content and methods of data analysis. Each main idea will be illustrated by examples included on the companion CD.