Research psychologists are doing more and more of their research studies on the internet. Recently, I took part in one such study, regarding color and text. David Eisenberg, from Evergreen Valley College, is the researcher who designed the aforementioned study, and made it available for public yet anonymous participation on March 12, 2012.
The study was broken down into three parts, involving pages of text in a variety of different color schemes. In part one, a series of pages was shown, with a single word at the top of each page. On the lower part of the page were 16 words, one of which was the same as the word at the top of the page. My job as a participant in part one was to locate the word at the bottom of the page that matched the one at the top of the page, and click it, being as quick and accurate as possible. Three practice pages were included before the actual study commenced. On each page, the text was one color, while the background was a different color. Each of the pages utilized a different combination of colors, some of which were repeated more than once in the study. All in all, ten different sets of color combinations were used. In part two of the study, all ten sets of color combinations that were used in part one was shown. I was asked to rate each, based on how much I liked it, and also on how readable I thought it was. Lastly, in part three, I was asked some demographic information. The researcher wanted to know about my gender, age, vision, and how much time I spent in front of a computer.
The object of the study was clear: to determine which color combinations are the most and least readable. The fact that I was asked to complete part one as quickly as possible indicates to me that the researcher wanted to learn whether there was a significant difference in readability among the different color combinations. I was also asked to rate the combinations on both likability and readability, which indicates that the...