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IME 458

IME 458. Human Factors Engineering. 8/26/2008. What is the Field of Human Factors?. 8/26/2008. Goals Reduce Error Increase Productivity Enhance Safety Enhance Comfort Goals Accomplished Through Equipment Design Task Design Environmental Design Training Selection.

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IME 458

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  1. IME 458 Human Factors Engineering 8/26/2008

  2. What is the Field of Human Factors? 8/26/2008 • Goals • Reduce Error • Increase Productivity • Enhance Safety • Enhance Comfort • Goals Accomplished Through • Equipment Design • Task Design • Environmental Design • Training • Selection

  3. Scope of Human Factors 8/26/2008

  4. Introduction to Research Methods 8/26/2008 • Basic Research -Basic research, fundamental research (sometimes pure research), is research carried out to increase understanding of fundamental principles. Many times the end results have no direct or immediate commercial benefits. However, in the long term it is the basis for many commercial products and 'applied' research. • Applied Research - Applied research: is research accessing and using some part of the research communities' (the academy's) accumulated theories, knowledge, methods, and techniques, for a specific, often state, commercial, or client driven purpose.

  5. Experimental Research Methods 8/26/2008 • Steps in conducting an experiment • Define problem and hypotheses. • Specify the experimental plan • Conduct the study • Analyze the data • Draw conclusions

  6. Experimental Designs 8/26/2008 • Single Group Design (study without control group – one independent variable) • Two Group Design (experimental group vs control group – one independent variable) • Multiple Group Designs (e.g., brightness – measure several levels & one independent variable) • Factorial Designs (multiple group with more than one independent variable) • Between- Subject Designs (compare results between groups) • Within – Subject Designs (same participants in all conditions) • Mixed Designs (combo of between & within) • Multiple Dependent Variables

  7. After Experimental Design is Specified 8/26/2008 • ID tasks and environment that will give most generalized results. • Select participants who represent the population or group that the researcher is interested in • Establish controls that will identify extraneous measured values of the independent variables. • Small test pilot study to make sure that everything goes as expected for participants, work out problems, and obtain initial expected values for control charts.

  8. Data Analysis 8/26/2008 • Descriptive Statistics • Counts • Means/Averages • Medians • Etc. • Inferential Analysis • Student t-test for two group designs • ANOVA for multiple group designs • Regression Analysis

  9. Descriptive Methods of Research 8/26/2008 • Observation – detailed recording of people’s actions in a given setting • Surveys and Questionnaires (to measure people’s beliefs, attitudes, values, and behavior • Content – information to be gathered (independent variables) • Format – Open ended or closed questions (statistical analysis requires closed questions) • Pretesting – trial testing to ID problems • Validity – take measures to insure anonymity and worded to avoid bias • Incident and Accident Analysis • Detailed reports with specified content and format • Information is retained in corporate and government data bases for analysis

  10. Data Analysis for Descriptive Measures 8/26/2008 • Differences between groups – e.g., new to the job vs extensive job experience • Relationships between continuous variables – e.g., multiple independent variable correlation • Complex modeling and simulation

  11. Other Considerations 8/26/2008 • Measuring Variables – must be able to measure accurately • System Performance – remember human is only one component of the system (nuclear power plant) • Objective vs Subjective Measures - always make effort to use objective over subjective • Construct Validity - (not valid if physical fatigue is being measured when data measured doesn’t show significant fatigue levels of participants) • Internal Validity – (independent variables caused changes in dependent variable and not effected by extraneous variables) • External Validity – (results can be generalized to other people, tasks, or settings) • Ethical Issues – protection from mental/physical harm, privacy, voluntary, and informed beforehand about procedures

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