Protocol analysis is a
psychological research method that
elicits verbal reports from research participants. Protocol analysis is used to study thinking in
cognitive psychology (Crutcher, 1994),
cognitive science (Simon & Kaplan, 1989), and behavior analysis (Austin & Delaney, 1998). It has found further application in the design of surveys and interviews (Sudman, Bradburn & Schwarz, 1996),
usability testing
Usability testing is a technique used in user-centered interaction design to evaluate a product by testing it on users. This can be seen as an irreplaceable usability practice, since it gives direct input on how real users use the system. It is ...
(Henderson, Smith, Podd, & Varela-Alvarez, 1995),
educational psychology
Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive and behavioral perspectives, allows researchers to understand individual differences in ...
(Pressley & Afflerbach 1995; Renkl, 1997) and
design research
Design research was originally constituted as primarily research into the process of design, developing from work in design methods, but the concept has been expanded to include research embedded within the process of design, including work concer ...
(Gero & McNeill 1998).
See also
*
Content analysis
Content analysis is the study of documents and communication artifacts, which might be texts of various formats, pictures, audio or video. Social scientists use content analysis to examine patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic ...
*
Partial concurrent thinking aloud
*
Think aloud protocol
A think-aloud (or thinking aloud) protocol is a method used to gather data in usability testing in product design and development, in psychology and a range of social sciences (e.g., reading, writing, translation research, decision making, and pro ...
References
* Austin, J., & Delaney, P. F. (1998). Protocol analysis as a tool for behavior analysis. ''Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 15'', 41–56.
* Crutcher, R. J. (1994). Telling what we know: The use of verbal report methodologies in psychological research. ''Psychological Science, 5'', 241–244.
* Ericsson, K. A., & Crutcher, R. J. (1991). Introspection and verbal reports on cognitive processes - two approaches to the study of thought processes: A response to Howe. ''New Ideas in Psychology, 9,'' 57–71.
* Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1993). ''Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data''. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
* Gero, J. S. & McNeill, T (1998) An approach to the analysis of design protocols, Design Studies 19(1): 21-61.
* Pressley, M., & Afflerbach, P. (1995). ''Verbal protocols of reading: The nature of constructively responsive reading''. Hillsdale, NJ, USA: Erlbaum.
* Renkl, A. (1997). Learning from worked-out examples: A study on individual differences. ''Cognitive Science, 21'', 1–29.
* Sudman, S., Bradburn, N. M., & Schwarz, N. (Eds.)(1996). ''Thinking about answers: The application of cognitive processes to survey methodology.'' San Francisco, CA, USA: Jossey-Bass.
External links
protocol analysis A tool for facilitating verbal protocol analysis in English, German, Spanish, or Chinese.
Psychological methodology
Cognitive science