Local and Online Data Collection

Inquisit is a powerful application for creating and administering a broad range of psychological tests and experimental paradigms. Inquisit gives you the option of running any test online with Inquisit Web or locally on a dedicated computer with Inquisit Lab.

Inquisit Lab or Inquisit Web?

Whether you are using Inquisit Lab or Web, all tests are executed by the same runtime engine for flexible, precision-timed testing. The choice comes down to which product enables you to most easily collect the best quality data from your participants.

Inquisit Lab

Inquisit Lab is designed for the following conditions and situations:

  • Data will be collected on dedicated computers in a lab
  • Using Inquisit with EEG, fMRI, eye trackers, and other physiological instruments
  • Collecting data in the field with laptops
  • Internet access is unavailable or unreliable
  • The testing environment must be tightly controlled

Inquisit Web

Inquisit Web is designed for the following situations:

  • Participants will be recruited and/or tested via the internet
  • Fast, convenient, and affordable recruitment of large numbers of participants
  • Reaching geographically disperse or otherwise inaccessible populations
  • Mass testing in classrooms and labs with large numbers of connected computers

How do lab licenses work?

A single Inquisit Lab license is required for each computer or laptop on which you wish to install Inquisit to design experiments or collect data. The license enables you to collect unlimited amounts of data on a registered computer running Windows or Mac OSX. If a computer is replaced, the license can be easily transferred to a new one at no cost. Lab licenses do not expire, and have no maintenance, subscription, or support fees.

How do web licenses work?

A single web license enables you to have one experiment online at a time, with no limits to the number of participants. Experiments can include multiple measures and between-subjects manipulations. When an experiment is complete, it can be replaced with a new experiment. Additional web licenses can be purchased to extend data collection or conduct multiple independent online experiments at the same time. You can run any Inquisit script over the web, whether it came from our test library, a colleague, or you programmed it yourself. (Inquisit Web runs on Windows and Mac OSX computers only.)