Student Research Information

We believe that participating in research is an integral part of Psychology. By participating in research at this level, we hope you will both learn something about how psychological research is done and will perhaps be inspired to conduct some psychological research during your undergraduate career.

Your instructor will determine the kind and amount of credit you receive for your participation. Please refer to your class syllabus for this information.

How To Sign Up For Research

  • Check the bulletin board across from Holland 319 once a week.
  • Sign up when you see a study that interests you. (Unless you've signed up the main office to avoid deception or stress studies, in which case you would sign up for projects that have your name by them and interest you.)
  • Write down the date, time and place of the session, along with the name and phone number of the person who is conducting research.
  • Show up on time for your research project. If you are more than 10 minutes late, the researcher is not obligated to allow you to participate.
  • Once you have completed research, get your credit slip from the experimenter, fill it out, and drop it in the box on the bulletin board across from Holland 319.
  • The deadline to turn in credit slips is the last day of classes.
  • You will only be given research credit for the approved studies that appear on the bulletin board.

Your rights as a research participant

We are committed to protecting your privacy and integrity as a research participant. You have a right to an explanation of any study before you agree to participate in it. In addition, everything that you say or do during a research project is strictly confidential. If, for some reason, you suddenly decide that you would rather not participate in a research project after all, then just ask for your credit slip and leave. You cannot be penalized in any way for leaving a research session once it has begun. If you have a complaint, concern or suggestion about the project you participated in, please feel free to call Chuck Huff at x3169. Your comments will be kept strictly confidential.

 After the research session

When the research session is over, you will receive both a written and an oral explanation of the research project. Pay close attention and ask any question you like - this is your chance to find out what the research was all about. The researcher may ask you not to share certain parts of the research with others. It is very important for the research project that you help them by not talking about their research. If you do talk, you may be ruining someone's senior project.

After the explanation of the research, you will receive a credit slip as proof of your participation. Fill in all of the information requested and then place the white copy in the blue Research Credit Box on the sign-up board. Keep the yellow copy for your records. Be sure to turn in your credit slip right away. The last day of classes is the last day on which credit slips will be accepted.

 Alternatives to research participation

If you cannot find a research project to participate in, or if you simply don't want to participate in research, there are several alternatives available to you. Forms to do this are available online and the list of available videos are here.

 Special Studies

Some of the studies you sign up for may have hidden purposes that you will not be told about until the end of the study. For instance, you might be told that a study is about memory when it is really about self-esteem or attention.

If you would prefer not to be in any studies that might mislead you about their purpose, merely stop by the main office and sign up on a list the secretary keeps for that purpose. We will then make certain that you are never posted as eligible for any study that may involve misleading you.

In addition, some studies ask that students undergo procedures that might be viewed as stressful (for example, holding your hand in ice water or doing physical exercise). If you would prefer not to be eligible for studies that involve stress, the Psychology secretary keeps a sign-up list for this too.

If you sign up on these lists, wait to hear from us in campus mail before you sign up for a study. We will let you know when one matches your requirements.

 

Conducting Research

 Using the Psychology Subject Pool

 Only approved research may be posted on the bulletin board!

 Your use of the Psychology Department Subject Pool is a privilege, and with that privilege come certain responsibilities. The department is concerned:

  • That students' trust in psychologists is not compromised
  • That students be treated with courtesy
  • That the information students provide be kept strictly confidential
  • That students give their informed consent before participating in research
  • That the research in which students participate have educational value

 Trust

Most students enter the psychological research setting with some level of trust in the experimenter. After all, isn't this person a Psychologist (or at least a budding one)? Shouldn't they be sensitive to such things as feelings and emotions? Please don't disappoint students' expectations. Even if your study is about serial memory schemata, you are dealing with real people. Be sensitive to their needs and concerns.

 Courtesy

Please treat subjects with the same courtesy you would expect. These people are helping you with your research project and deserve your gratitude. If you treat them badly, not only might your data be contaminated, but you may have discouraged someone from choosing a career in Psychology.

 Privacy

Subjects in research have every right to expect that their information will be kept confidential. This means that you cannot talk about individual subjects with your colleagues in such a manner that you identify them. Please make sure that papers from your research are kept in secure places (like locked rooms) so that no one could accidentally discover a subject's identity.

Informed Consent

Informed consent of participants is a central criterion for conducting ethical research. Subjects must know enough about your study so that they can make an informed decision about whether they want to participate or not. Informed consent includes mentioning all of the following things to subjects before they sign the informed consent form:

  • Identify any sponsors of your research (such as the National Science Foundation or the Psychology Department Research Fund).
  • Describe the purpose of your study in language that the layperson can understand.
  • Mention how long the person will need to take to complete your study.
  • Identify in language the layperson can understand any procedures or manipulations in such a way that subjects can determine if they are willing to undergo them.

This is a touchy issue. Give the subject all the information you can without influencing their responses in your study. If you must deceive subjects about the purpose or procedures of your study, make certain that you have considered non-deceptive options and identified them to the Research Ethics Committee.

  • Identify any potential risks subjects may face from participation.
  • Assure subjects that their data will be held in strict confidentiality.

 You need to compose a written explanation of your study. You will give this paragraph or so to subjects upon completion of their participation. The statement must explain the study to the participant in a way that is engaging, understandable, and reasonably comprehensive. Most statements will be about one single spaced page of text and will contain some suggestions for further reading (at the general interest level, not just journal articles). When you apply for use of the Subject Pool, this written explanation will be reviewed by the Subject Pool Administrator.

 Turning in the Application

Before turning the application form, you should have had your research project approved by the IRB (Institutional Review Board) . Projects "pending" approval by the IRB will not be included in the pool until approval is obtained.

When you describe your study and its procedures, include all the information that you gave to the IRB - including copies of questionnaires, etc. When you compose your "short explanation" of your study, make it the written explanation that you will hand out to subjects when they complete your study.

Review of Applications

When you have turned in this form, the Subject Pool Administrator will review your request and approve a certain number of subjects for your project. Those doing research for Distinction credit and for Independent Research will get priority. You will be notified of the decision within 10 days of submitting your application. At that time you will receive signup sheets to fill out and credit slips for the number of subjects that have been approved for your study.

Signup Sheets

The title and short explanation sections of the signup sheets will need to be filled in. Please use language a layperson can understand. Give potential subjects enough information so that they can decide if your study is interesting to them and if they are willing to follow the procedures you will request of them. The demo sheet gives you some ideas about how to arrange your sign-up.  Since you are approved for a certain number of subjects, MAKE SURE YOU NUMBER THE SLOTS AVAILABLE, so you will use no more subjects than you are assigned.  If you are signing up people in large groups, you can make two columns on the signup sheet to save space.  Only approved sign-up sheets may be used.  If you need more signup sheets, ask the Subject Pool Coordinator for them.

We recommend you get contact information (phone and/or email) from each potential subject so you can contact them before the study to remind them of when and where the study is.  If you do not do this, you will find a significant number of no-shows will occur.

Post your signup sheet on the Research Bulletin Board within a few days of when you receive them. At this time, send an email to class aliases to inform students of your research opportunity. Include a small explanation of the study. You can also, if the professor approves come to their class to announce your study and hand out a sign up sheet then. When posted, students will begin signing up for your study. You may either 1) wait until an entire sheet has been filled and remove it or 2) take the sheet down to make a photocopy of the names already signed up. If you take the signup sheet down, be sure to replace it immediately. When you have finished a study, or enough people have signed up for your study, be sure to remove your signup sheet from the board. You should run all students who sign up for your study. Leaving your sign up sheet up on the board is an implicit promise that you will run them if they sign up. Note:  Please make an effort to run your study as early as possible in the semester.  If you wait until the end of the semester you will be competing for participants with the clean up study, thereby possibly not getting all the subjects you were allotted.

 After Each Subject in Your Study

When you have finished running a subject in a study, you are obligated to give that student both a oral and a written explanation of the study. This explanation of your study is crucial in maintaining the educational nature of the subject pool. Please be as conscientious as you can in explaining your study and as helpful as you can in answering questions your subjects may have. Only after a subject has both participated in your study and received your verbal and written explanation can you give him or her a credit slip. The only exception to this is for subjects who decide to leave the study early.  Students who have shown up for the study get their credit, even if they leave immediately. They should also get the debriefing sheet.

You should have already have filled out each credit slip with the project name, the project director (your name), and circled the nearest unit in hours of the length of the study. Give one slip to each student who completes your project, or who shows up and feels he or she cannot complete your project. Please remind students to fill in their credit slips promptly and legibly and to return them to the Research Credit Box on the Signup Board. If a student is more than 10 minutes late for a project, you are not required to run that student in your study or to give him or her credit. Return extra Credit Slips to the Administrative Assistant in the Department office (HH 311).

Feedback on Your Performance

At the end of the term, you will receive a report from the Subject Pool Administrator. This will summarize the ratings that subjects made of your study and of the way they were treated in your study. You will also find out how well students understood your explanation of your study. This feedback is important to us and it should be to you; you should pay close attention to your conduct as an experimenter and educator to ensure that you get good ratings.