American Behavioral Scientist

Wilson, C. C., & Barker, S. B. (2003). Challenges in designing human-animal interaction research. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(1), 16-28.

This article addresses challenges in designing Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) research. A summary of previous reviews of HAI research is presented, followed by a discussion of areas that present particular challenges to research in this field, specifically design issues, control of extraneous variables, sample selection, intervention development, and outcome measurement. Suggestions for addressing these areas are also presented.