empirisoft.Psychology Research Software
Software / MediaLab v2020

MediaLab

Powerful multimedia experiments and questionnaires for Windows — built for both technologically savvy and technologically challenged researchers. No programming code necessary.

Overview

From simple surveys to complex factorial designs

MediaLab combines smart experimental design features with the multimedia capabilities of modern Windows PCs. Participants can be administered different stimuli, different dependent measures, and different orders depending on the experimental condition — and MediaLab handles it all with ease.

Highly intuitive and user-friendly, MediaLab comes with extensive interactive help files, an easy-to-follow 107-page manual, sample experiments, and a simple tutorial. Most researchers are building fully functional experiments within 15–20 minutes.

Download v2020   Online User Guide
MediaLab experiment software screenshot
Highlights

Why researchers choose MediaLab

Flexible input formats

Multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, essay responses, thought and recall listings — participants can even rate their own open-ended responses on any dimension.

True multimedia

Present Word documents, HTML, PowerPoint shows, audio, video, and images — alone or in combination. Anything a browser can display, MediaLab can present.

Analysis-ready data

Friendly data files import straight into Excel or SPSS with variable definitions written automatically, so you can start analyzing immediately.

Feature Details

Everything under the hood

MediaLab is information-dense by design. Expand any section for the full feature list.

General features
  • Define as many experimental conditions as you like — great for factorial designs.
  • Flexible randomization: randomize items within a group, the order groups are presented, and at both the experiment and questionnaire level.
  • Embed your own or third-party programs within an experiment or questionnaire.
  • Run DirectRT, Inquisit, or Qualtrics sessions from within your MediaLab experiment.
  • Create multiple custom preference settings with choices of fonts and display colors.
  • Context-sensitive help — press F1 at any time for help with what you are currently doing.
  • On-the-fly editing of Word and WordPerfect documents as you run through your experiment.
  • Resolution independent — compatible with all screen displays.
  • Easy-to-use intuitive interface; no programming code necessary.
  • Compatible with non-English fonts (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, Arabic) — customize all messages or translate into any language.
  • Optionally run experiments from a CD-ROM or a server on your LAN.
Flexible questionnaire design
  • Scale responses with up to 12 closed-ended options, plus multiple-response (select all that apply) items.
  • Fill-in-the-blank (free or restricted), essay-type responses, thought listings, and recall listings.
  • Have subjects rate their own thought-listing responses on any dimension.
  • Present HTML pages with active hyperlinks — display anything Internet Explorer can.
  • Track browsing behavior as subjects navigate local HTML files or the web: every link followed, when they arrived, and how long they stayed.
  • Present Microsoft Word or other OLE-compatible documents for more elaborate formatting.
  • Embed PowerPoint shows within your experiment or questionnaires.
  • Gather online continuous rating data during audio and video clips.
  • Skip patterns triggered by particular closed-ended responses; omit items in specified conditions.
  • Self-paced or time-limited responses; optionally allow subjects to return to previous questions.
  • Embed subjects' responses in subsequent question wordings.
  • Easily modify and re-use questionnaires in other experiments, with multiple style configurations in the same session.
Multimedia presentation
  • Present graphics (.bmp, .jpg, .gif), sound (.wav, .mp3), and video (.avi, .mpg, .mov).
  • Combine graphics, sound, video, and questionnaire items on screen.
  • Present HTML, Flash, Java, ASP, and any other browser-compatible files.
  • Optional parameters control the screen location of images and movies, and video size all the way up to full screen.
Data handling
  • Writes data to an easy-to-analyze ASCII file — your choice of which variables to include.
  • Single-file output imports straight into Excel (up to 255 variables) or SPSS (unlimited). Variable definitions are written automatically.
  • Two sets of data files: one organized by questionnaire, the other by variable names.
  • Utility included for merging data files collected on different computers.
  • Optionally record reaction time for any response.
  • Optionally write data from multiple computers to a single network folder.
Requirements

System requirements

MediaLab runs great on virtually all current PC systems running any current version of Windows. At least 64 MB of RAM is recommended; additional memory boosts performance when using an array of multimedia stimuli.

Installing Microsoft Office adds impressive functionality — embed Word and PowerPoint documents, or tap Excel's conditional logic for your experimental design. With Internet Explorer installed, MediaLab can embed local and internet web pages within your experiment. A spreadsheet application such as Excel or SPSS is required to view some data files, though this may be done on any machine.

Pairing

MediaLab and/or DirectRT?

New customers often wonder whether they need both MediaLab and DirectRT, or if one is sufficient. The short answer: MediaLab is built for questionnaires and multimedia experiments; DirectRT is built for millisecond-precision reaction-time tasks — and a DirectRT session can be dropped into any MediaLab questionnaire.

Knowledgebase: Do I need both DirectRT and MediaLab?

MediaLab FAQ and support forum

Try MediaLab free for 21 days

Download now and we'll send you a trial code — or check out licensing and upgrade pricing.

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