In many ways the Ivey Research Lab may now be a researcher’s greatest discovery. Thanks to $325,000 in funding, the lab has been outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment such as touchscreen computers, eyetracking software and galvanic skin response trackers to detect physical responses to stimuli, and eye-in-the-sky video recording equipment to unobtrusively capture natural behaviour. The funding is a combination of a Canadian Foundation for Innovation grant, provincial money and private donations.
The lab is also now housed in the lower level of the new Richard Ivey Building and has more space so researchers can conduct larger computer-based studies, or smaller more intimate studies in separate break-out rooms that allow the space to be mocked up to meet the individual needs of the research project.
“This opens up a lot of possibilities for the types of questions that researchers can ask, which is exciting,” said Ivey Assistant Professor Miranda Goode, who is Faculty Director of the lab.
Going forward, Goode hopes to compile a wish list for new equipment, software and materials that might further enhance research projects.
The lab is a resource for both Ivey faculty and doctoral students. Operating since 2006, it has been home to experiment and survey-based studies involving more than 18,000 participants and results from such studies have appeared in more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.
For more information on the Ivey Research lab, call (519) 661-2111, ext. 83571.
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