This experiment is being carried out as part of my PhD research at the Department of Computer Science in the Australian National University. The main purpose of the experiment is to obtain an insight into what sorts of search results people find most useful.
For each search you do using our experimental search engine, you will be presented with two sets of results, and a voting bar. It will look somewhat like this:
All we'd like to know is which of the two result lists (left or right) you prefer for each search you do.
If you'd like to participate, please use our two-panel search engine as your normal web search engine for a few weeks, and use the voting bar to tell us which list you prefer, and how much you prefer it. We believe the overall quality of results should be high enough for use as your primary search engine for the duration of the experiment.
If you're using firefox, you can easily add our search engine to your search bar right now! Just click the drop down arrow next to the search bar in the top right hand corner of your firefox window, and select "Add Tim's Two Panel Search"
You'll then be able to search using our search engine straight from your search bar.
Participation in this project can take as long or as short a time as you like. You will be asked some initial questions about yourself and your experience with computers, then asked to carry out your normal web searches using software we provide. We will record your interactions with our software and analyse the results to guide our research.
Results from this project may be published in a research forum, and used in my PhD thesis. No personal information will be published except in aggregate form (such as averages or totals). We will not publish any information which could link you to the experiment or to and particular search or web page, and any information you provide will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it. All information will be protected to the full extent allowed by law, and data will be kept secure on a password-protected server during and after the project.
Your participation in this research is entirely voluntary. You are welcome to withdraw at any time, even after finishing the search tasks, and there will be no penalty whatsoever.
If you have any questions, comments, or complaints please contact the researcher, Tim Jones, at tim.jones@anu.edu.au . You may also contact my supervisor, Prof. David Hawking at dave@cs.anu.edu.au . If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact the Australian National University's Human Research Ethics Committee at human.ethics.officer@anu.edu.au or on +61-2-6125 7945.
Thank you for your participation.