This week, I finally got to run Sara’s Scenario and Puzzles study on my own, which I am really proud about! I had run it alongside Sara last week, where I got to learn firsthand what it takes to be a researcher: preparedness, following the script, directness, and, most importantly, consistency! I realized how important it is to be consistent in all sessions of a study because one small difference in the tone of the researcher’s voice or in how the lab is set up can impact the results of the study, making it less reliable.

Therefore, after Sara and I had done the first run of the study, we made several notes on all the things that we had to change in order to make sure that the future sessions would not be impacted by the hindrance of surrounding noises and objects, as well as what we had to keep consistent. For example, we have to make sure that all four participants in each of the sessions sit in the same four computers (there are six in our lab) and that all of their computers have no volume, and that our phone remains silent in all the sessions. We also had to add some notes to the script to let our other research team members know of other lines that they have to say to their participants (such as “Do not click the reset button or change the number of discs on a puzzle.”)

After improving on all of these things and updating the script with the new notes, it was time for me to run my own session. I had to come at 3:30 pm and prepare the lab with the appropriate items and websites on the computers. The participants then came in at 4 pm and I have to admit, even though I had practiced with Sara already, I was still really nervous since I was all by myself and because I didn’t want to forget anything that I supposed to say or do. However, I then told myself that everything was going to be okay as long as I followed the script word for word (even though it would make me sound like a robot!). What also encouraged me to not feel nervous was the fact that I am basically representing my team members and the purpose of this study, so I wanted to appear informative, enthusiastic, and confident about the study. In the end, everything did go fine and I was very happy for not messing up! I definitely feel more prepared for next week’s sessions.