Categorization

[quty30]

Hi
I plan to run a study with categorization task.

Please refer to the followings.
<Introduction>
In this study, we are interested in how consumers group things. Please take a look at the items involved in two scenarios and place them into groups by writing the items that belong together next to each other on the blank space provided, and then categorize the items that belong in the same group. Please make sure to include every item, even if you would not use it in reality. Additionally, please do not overlap, that is, place each item in only one group.

Scenario 1. Camping
Imagine that you are going on a camping trip and have decided to take the following items with you. Take a look at the following items and place them into groups by writing the items together, that you think belong together. Write the items, which you think fall together but into different group. (These instructions would change depending on procedure to be followed in Media Lab). Make sure to include every item, even if you would not use it in reality. Additionally, please do not overlap, that is, place each item in only one group. You may create as many or as few groups as you think would be sufficient.

Brush
Tent
Matches
Camera
Soap
Gloves
Bathing suit
Shovel
Fishing pole
Hat
Snorkel
Shirts
Sweater
Sneakers
Coat
Raft
Dog
Boots
Marshmallows
Socks
Blanket
Flashlight
Pants
Sunglasses
Rifle
Shoes
Cigarettes
Rope
Hotdogs
Canteen
Toothbrush
Underwear
Beer
Sleeping bag
Pillow
Axe
Potato chips
Insect repellant





Would you please help me out? I couldn't find any tips for categorization.

[Trevor Newell]

There's a few different routes you could use to complete this task. The first and most powerful way to go would be through a custom item. Custom items however have a higher learning curve than the other item types available from within MediaLab.

For more information on custom items, see the following link:
http://www.empirisoft.com/medialab/h...stom_items.htm

By utilizing the power of HTML and Java, you can create tools similar to the example provided in the following link:
http://www.empirisoft.com/support/showthread.php?t=540

Through the power of custom items, you could also create a list of items to be checked off from within a list. See the following link:
http://www.empirisoft.com/support/showthread.php?t=825

The second route you could head in would be through utilizing the power of the 'ranking' item type. The ranking item type could be used so that the user lists each item in a manner that they feel indicates a 'gradient' of similarity. The only problem with doing so is that the ranking feature only supports 12 items to be used at a time.

You may also want to try using the 'Essay' item type. The essay item type will allow for the user to list the items in any order or grouping manner that they like. If you do not have enough room to present each item that the user can select, you may want to have MediaLab open a Read Only notepad file and present it next to the MediaLab window.

Let me know if this helps out.

[eshaeffer]

I would be very interested to find out if someone has created a custom item to handle this task since the original post. This remains a useful experimental procedure and I would love to know if code exists to do it or, alternately, if this procedure will be part of an upcoming release of MediaLab. Thanks.

[jarvis24]

It strikes me that the multiple fill in the blanks sample that comes with MediaLab v2008 (in the custom items folder) could be modified pretty easily to do this. You would just need to add the text items you've listed here and increase the size of the text boxes--perhaps also making them multi-line (as opposed to having items separated with commas in the different boxes).