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SONA Procedures

Research Participation Requirement Description

Please read the following very carefully. Failure to complete the research requirement will result in you receiving an incomplete for the course.

The science of Psychology advances by conducting research. In an effort to get you acquainted with the basic methodology that behavioral scientists employ and to more fully understand scientific research, you are required to participate in ongoing research in the psychology department. As a participant in these research studies, you will gain a greater understanding of how psychologists conduct research, and provide valuable information to advance the science.

SONA software will be used for scheduling, signup and assignment of credits. As a student in PSH 110, you will receive in your Brockport email account an email containing your password. The email will be sent from the Human Subject Pool System [brockport-admin@sona-systems.net]. You may use this initial password to login, at which point you may change your password if you wish. From this website, you will be able to access the available studies, sign up for them, cancel if necessary, and keep track of your completed and required credits. If you have not received an email with your login information, please contact the SONA administrator, James Witnauer ( jwitnaue@brockport.edu). If you do not receive an account and you fail to contact Dr. Witnauer by February 3, you will need to complete the alternative written research assignment (see guidelines below). Before contacting Dr. Witnauer, please be sure to search your Brockport email inbox for the SONA login information. The email with your login information will be sent from brockport-admin@sona-systems.net.

Please note that if you lose or forget your password, you may use the “Lost your password” link to retrieve it. Alternatively, you may email the SONA administrator at jwitnaue@brockport.edu. However, retrieving a lost password may result in your password being reset (i.e., you may be reassigned a new, random password).

You must be 18 years of age to participate in the studies. If you are not yet 18 years of age at the beginning of the semester, you cannot participate in research studies. Instead, your research participation requirement will be fulfilled by completing the written assignment described below. See your instructor for details. You are responsible for contacting your course instructor.

Requirements

You need four credits to complete this requirement. Most studies will provide you with one research credit but some may be worth two or three credits each depending to the amount of time you are asked to participate in the study. Some studies will require to you to complete online tasks (e.g., surveys or questionnaires). Other studies will require that you attend sessions in laboratories on campus. It is unlikely that you will be able to earn four credits by doing online tasks so please sign up for laboratory-based studies that fit your schedule. See your Intro instructor to learn about opportunities to earn extra credit for earning more than four credit hours.

If you have not completed all of your required credit hours by the end of the semester, you will receive an incomplete (I) for the course.

Procedure for Signing Up for a Study

  1. You will be enrolled in an online system (SONA Systems) that will manage this process. In order to sign up for a study, login to the website by entering your username and password, which will be automatically sent to your Brockport email account. After finding your login information, use your web browser to navigate to http://brockport.sona-systems.com/ and enter your login information.
  2. To schedule a study click on the link “View All Available Studies.”
  3. You will now view a series of studies that have a brief description and the available times. Simply select the one of interest that has a “timeslots available,” listing next to it. Click “Timeslots Available” to view information about that study.
  4. At the bottom of the page, click the “View Time Slots for This Study” link.
  5. Next to each timeslot, you will see a “Sign Up” button.
  6. Select the button to signup for a timeslot. You will then receive both a notice saying you are signed up and an email confirmation, which will contain all of the information for the study. Then simply show up at the designated time and place that is noted in the email (or follow the directions if you do not actually need to show up somewhere-e.g., an online study).

If You Sign Up & Do Not Show Up for a Study

Signing up for a study and failing to show up is a significant inconvenience for people who are conducting research. Therefore, if you fail to show up for an experiment for which you have signed up, you will have an additional credit hour added to your requirement.

If you cannot make a session, you must cancel 24 hours in advance in order to not be penalized. In order to cancel an experiment, simply go on to SONA under “My Schedule/Credits” and select “Cancel.”

Your Rights as a Research Participant

  • You have a right to be informed about the general nature of the research for which you have signed up. The information provided by the researcher should include any benefits and risks for participation.
  • You have the right to expect your data will be kept confidential. The researcher should inform you of how this expectation will be met.
  • You have the right to voluntary participation. This means that you can stop participating at any time during the study for any reason. Alternatives to participation must be offered.
  • You have the right to be treated well. If you feel that you have been mistreated, immediately contact the IRB Administrator, at (585) 395-2779; Email: irb@brockport.edu.
  • You can expect that your research credit will be posted within one week after you complete participation in a study.

Your Responsibilities as a Research Participant

You are responsible for showing up for research that you have signed up for. If you cannot attend a session that you signed up for, you are responsible to inform the researcher 24 hours in advance. If you do not inform the researcher about your inability to attend, a penalty research credit hour will be applied.

You are responsible for not signing up for the same study more than once. Once you have received credit for participating in a study, you may not participate in that same study again.

You are responsible for arriving to studies on time. Arriving as little as one minute late could result in your session being canceled or your SONA account being penalized.

Who to Contact if you Have Questions About a Study

Any questions directly about a study (what the study is about, what it entails, how to participate, if you cannot attend a session, if you did not receive credit for a study, etc.) should be directed to the researcher or faculty member in charge of the particular study. The researcher’s contact information is available in the advertisement for the study posted on SONA. If you cannot resolve problems with the researcher directly, then you may contact the SONA Administrator, Dr. James Witnauer, at (585) 395-2286; or you may contact your instructor.

Summarizing Research Articles

Who Should Summarize Articles?

All students who are under 18 years of age at the start of the course are asked to summarize 4 research articles to fulfill their research credit requirement. Additionally, for those students who are 18 years or older, if you prefer not to participate in the research studies, you have the option to learn about the research process by reading and summarizing research articles.

Where do I find the Possible Research Articles to Choose from?

Select from a series of classic studies that have been done in the field of psychology that are posted in our BLACKBOARD course folder under “Alternative Research Assignment.”

How do I Complete the Research Article Summary?

After identifying a research article you wish to read, accurately and completely answer each question indicated below. Your summaries will be graded as pass/fail, and you only receive participation credit for a “passing” summary. To receive research credit the summary must be at least 500 words in length (about 1 page), well organized, written in narrative form in your own words, and address the following questions related to the article:

Research Article Questions:

Based on the article’s introduction:

  • Who were the authors of the research?
  • What was the title of the article?
  • What are the main hypotheses that were tested?

From the article’s method section:

  • Who were the participants?
  • What research design was used (e.g., survey, naturalistic observation, correlational, experimental)? If an experimental research design was used, what was the independent variable? Dependent variable?

As summarized from the article’s results section:

  • What results did the researchers observe?
  • Was the research hypothesis supported? Why or why not?

From the article’s discussion section and your own impressions:

  • What is the take home message in the article?
  • What do you think the experimenters did well?
  • What do you think the experimenters could have done differently?

If you decide to take advantage of this alternative, you must submit your completed paper(s) to the drop box(es) found in our BLACKBOARD course folder under “Alternative Research Assignment.” There are 4 drop boxes listed because 4 research credits are required (remember 1 paper = 1 research credit).

Note that the rules regarding academic honesty and plagiarism are the same for these papers as they would be for any other paper. Students have been subjected to penalties under the student academic misconduct code for plagiarizing these papers. When submitted, your paper may be automatically scanned to check for similarities with the original paper. Your instructor will review the paper and assign credit for it. Instructors may have additional or alternative requirements, such as a hard copy of your submission. Check with your instructor for additional requirements.