by  lindsay_bremner 

We covered the basics of research methods in psychology last week, and one of the activities we did in class was conduct a Coke vs. Pepsi taste test. Now this was not about preferences, as many taste tests traditionally are, but rather the question “Can people tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi?” Due to time (one 50-minute class session) and other (e.g., budget) constraints, this study had a few strengths and several weaknesses. I asked my students for help identifying the limitations of the study and suggestions to make the study stronger, and several took me up on the offer.

This post contains a good summary of the experiment itself, so I’d suggest starting there. If you want the full details of the experiment, I’ve attached the description I hand out in class to this post. Additional suggestions can be found at each of these links (1, 2, 3, 4). Feel free to discuss these suggestions with the student authors via comments and/or post your own suggestions to the experiment on their posts or this one.