Error in data retrieval
Dear forum,
is it possible that data is not retrieved if participants keep the last page of the experiment open in the browser for a long time? There are too many people who never shut down their computers and keep docens of tabs open in the browser for several days to look them up later.
I am unsure when the data is retrieved during Online Experiments using OSWeb in JATOS, but i expect it to happen at the very end when the browser is closed. Is that correct? I wondered whether inactiviy for a long time may result in a lack of data retrieval as the browser is not closed.
Looking forward to insightful answers
Stephan
Comments
Hi Stephan,
It's technically possible to only send data when the browser's unload event is fired (the browser or tab closes or link is followed to another page) but this would be a (very) strange experiment design. Usually an experiments sends data when it's done with whatever its doing and also a couple times in between (to have some intermediate data in case the participant stops working or something crashes). To wait until the page closes and the unload event fires doesn't make much sense. But JATOS doesn't care much for what happens in the browser (JATOS does the server side), so it's possible.
But if you are lacking some data it is more likely that something else went wrong during your experiment.
Best,
Kristian