Participating in Psychology Research

There are a variety of ways to get involved in research, including being a participant in our Research Participant Pool, doing research with St. Olaf Psychology faculty, or doing research at other institutions.

1. Volunteering for the Research Participation Pool (in Psych 125)

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 conducted 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.

Signing up for a Study

  1. Go to Google documents and open “Research Participant Sign Up”
  2. On the bottom of the document there are tabs labeled “Exp. 1..Exp 2..Exp 3...” 
    a. Click on a tab to view an experiment
    b. Not all of the tabs will be filled out
  3. Read through the experiment information
    a. Pay close attention to the Date, Time, and Location
    b. Researchers may or may not list a time commitment or amount of credit received (almost all experiments will be worth 1 credit slip of participation)
  4. If the experiment you are viewing has a date and time that works for you, type in your name and email under the appropriate headings for the date and time that you wish to participate in the study
  5. Write down what date and time you signed up for the study as well as the location!!!
  6. Go to the indicated location at the indicated date and time of the experiment you signed up for
  7. If you have any questions about the experiment, before or after participating, email the researcher
  8. If the experiment you are viewing does not have a date or time that works for you, view another experiment by clicking at the tabs on the bottom of the document
  9. Remember the academic honesty code, please do not delete other students who have signed up for the study—all changes made to the document are tracked
  10. There will be plenty of studies to sign up for!  Don’t panic if you haven’t participated in a study until later in the semester as many Research Methods students will have experiments running until about 2 weeks before finals

Please, DO NOT add additional time slots, delete a participant from a time slot, or cross out participants from a given time slot.

Credit slip turn in

For in lab studies, the experimenter will give you a credit slip at the completion of the study. Please fill this slip out, and return it to the credit box located outside of the Psych department office (RNS 236). For some online surveys, the researcher will grant credit electronically.
*** Although we maintain updated records, your total credits will not be tabulated until the end of the semester.***

Your rights as a 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.

Your responsibility as a research participant

Your responsibility as a participant is to show up to the correct location at the correct time, and to notify the experimenter if a conflict develops as soon as possible so that s/he can remove your name from the roster.

 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.

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 Psychology Administrative Assistant 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 Administrative Assistant 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

  1. Make sure you have completed and submitted an IRB form to be reviewed
    a.More information on how to do is on the St. Olaf College website: http://www.stolaf.edu/academics/irb/
     i. Read the background/instructions
    ii. Fill out and submit the appropriate forms (faculty members on the IRB committee are listed on the webpage)
    b. This should include a detailed project description and a consent form. There may be other necesary forms, depending on your particular study
    c. Make sure to keep copies of these forms for record keeping—this should be done independently
  2. Upon IRB approval, reserve a room or location for your study
  3. Go to “Google Documents” and open “Research Participant Sign Up”. This document will replace the public sign up sheets that we have used in the past. All students registered in Principles of Psychology will have read and write access to this document, and will be able to view and sign up for experiments at any time of day. Only students in the course, and faculty and staff in the department will have access to this document.
  4. Look over the document, make sure that you have all of the information necessary to complete the form (some slots may be designated as “NA” depending on your particular study)
  5. Find an open experiment tab (Labeled “Exp. N” on the bottom of the document)
  6. Complete your form
    a. Your name, email, experiment title, experiment description, date/time, and location are absolutely necessary to fill out
    b. Time commitment, amount of credit received, and special instructions are helpful for the students signing up to participate and will probably help the study to run more smoothly
    c. If you are only recruiting a particular demographic, gender, age, class year, handedness etc… indicate that in the “any qualifications for study” slot
    d.If you are conducting an in lab experiment, fill in the days, times and number of open slots that will be available for students to participate
    e. If you are conducting a web-based survey, please include a link for students to participate. Students will not need to sign up for these, and you will be responsible for keeping track of who has participated
    f. If you are conducting an in lab study or survey that requires absolute confidentiality of your partcipants, please include instructions for them to contact you in order to schedule a time to participate.
  7. Save changes to the document
  8. Keep track of students who sign up for your study. Check back often to add additional time slots as needed
  9. It is recommended that researchers email students who have signed up for their study the night before they signed up to participate
  10. Keep track of which students actually show up for the study
    a. This may be done in a separate excel workbook for researchers only and will be cross checked with the participation slips that you give them during the debriefing phase

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.

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.

 After Each Subject in Your Study

When you have finished running a subject in a study, you are obligated to give that student both an 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 authorize credit. 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.


2. Doing Research With St. Olaf Psychology Faculty

Many psychology majors do research projects with faculty.  To get started, think about what interests you in psychology.  Then find out what areas faculty are interested in researching; look at the descriptions on faculty members’ web pages and come talk with us.

Some of the ways to do research with St. Olaf faculty include:

  • Registering for Independent Study/ Independent Research (Psych 298/Psych 398):  These individual courses are arranged by talking directly with a faculty member and together deciding on a plan for your work together.
  • Registering for Psych 396:  Directed Research:  This is a course listed in the Class and Lab.  For any given semester there may be one or more faculty who are offering a section of Psych 396.  Typically this course will enroll a small group of students who will work together with the faculty member on research.  If you are interested, check the Class and Lab to see who is offering Psych 396 and then go and talk with that professor.
  • Summer Research:  Various faculty do research with students over the summer.  Sometimes this is a paid position; other times students have registered for it as a course.

Endowment Fund
Thanks to the generosity of psychology faculty, alums and families, there is an Endowment Fund of over $71,000 that is used to support the research of junior and senior psychology majors. Each year, those needing research support fill out grant request forms to receive support from the approximately $4,200 a year the Endowment Fund supplies.


3. Doing Research at Other Institutions

You can apply to do research with faculty at another institution over the summer.  Two ways to pursue this are:

  • The American Psychological Association’s Summer Science Fellowship: 
    The American Psychological Association selects a small number of students to do research with nationally known psychologists over the summer, and the APA covers expenses and gives you a stipend.  Only rising senior students are eligible (i.e., during the summer between your junior and senior years). For more information see www.apa.org/science/ssf.html.

  • Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU’s):
    National Science Foundation - Research Experiences for Undergraduates
    http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp