I am planning to administer an IAT among a large number of adolescents. Unfortunately they can't come to our university lab. Therefore, I have two different options:
1. Using small notebooks that have an Intel ® Atom(TM) CPU Z520 1.33 GHz processor and 2.00 GB memory / Intel ® Atom ((TM)) CPUN570 processor with 1.66 GHz and 1.00 GB memory.
2. Administer the IAT via the web-version ofinquisit, whereby the children and adolescents complete the IAT at home ontheir own computer/notebook via the internet.
I was wondering which of the two methods is the mostreliable? Is the processor okay for administering an IAT, and what about differences between adolescent's computer's at home?
Thank you in advance!
Loes
Inquisit itself doesn't require massive system resources*, so laptops should generally be fine. It should, by definition, also be more reliable because *you* have full control over those systems (i.e., you can extensively test your procedures to make sure everything is working as intended) as opposed to users' own computers. Over the web / in the wild, there is always a chance of hitting systems with issues which may interfere with Inquisit (e.g., due to outdated or broken graphics card drivers, unreliable internet connectivity, etc.).
* This largely depends on what types of stimuli you want to present. A machine with an Atom processor and/or a weak graphics chip may be unable to handle HD video files, for example, but simple pictures should not pose a problem.