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Psychology College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies

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Student Researcher Information

Which type of researcher are you?

  • PSYC 102 Student - Complete the Psychology Department Research Review process.
  • Graduate Student (e.g., Thesis, PSYC 294, PSYC 297) - Submit your study to the University IRB.
  • Undergraduate Independent Research (e.g., PSYC 194, PSYC 197) - Submit your study to the University IRB.

All research involving human participants must receive approval before recruiting participants or collecting data. The review process ensures that studies meet ethical standards and comply with University and federal regulations protecting research participants.

Approval Process Comparison

Comparison of approval process between PSYC 102 students and non-PSYC 102 students conducting research with human subjects.
PSYC 102 Projects Graduate/Independent Research
Reviewed by Psychology Department Human Subjects Committee Reviewed by University IRB
Class research projects Thesis, PSYC 194, 197, 294, 297
Department approval required IRB approval required
Submit through department portal Submit through University IRB

PSYC 102 Research Projects

Phase 1 - Prepare Your Study


  • Review the Researcher Conduct Guidelines.
  • Create a Consent Form
  • Create a Debriefing Form
  • Prepare the following materials that may be used in your study
    • Consent Form
    • Debriefing Form
    • Surveys
    • Questionnaires
    • Images (include source or permission)
    • Vignettes
    • Photos (provide the source if in the public domain; if not in the public domain have individuals in the photos sign a waiver to have their images used for your research.)
    • Videos (include URL)
    • Recruitment materials

Phase 2 - Submit for Review

  • Submit your materials to the Submission Portal by TBA.
  • Wait for approval.
  • Estimated Review Time: Up to 10 business days. Plan accordingly before recruiting participants.

Important: Do not recruit participants or collect data until your study has been approved.

Phase 3 - Recruit Participants

SONA Systems - Psychology Department Research Portal
  • Request "Researcher" role in SONA (if not already established) to the SONA Administrator
  • Create your study in SONA to the viewpoint of prospective participants.

Important: Any changes to your approved study must receive approval before implementation.

  • Send message via SONA to administrator asking for approval and provide approved number of subject pool hours.
  • Schedule sessions by adding timeslots. *Note the participation deadline is the Friday before Finals Week at 11:59pm.
  • Monitor your study timeslots and Unassigned Credits.

Phase 4 - After Data Collection

  • Award credits promptly. Enter supporting comments when granting "No-Show Unexcused or Excused."
  • Resolve any "Uncredited Sign-ups"
    If "Uncredited Sign-ups or Timeslots" exist, first consider that the participant intends to complete the study but has until the listed participation deadline. In this case, researchers are able to set the participation deadline to an earlier date that reduces the number of uncredited timeslots.
  • Deactivate the study when data collection is over and all sign-ups have been granted credit or cleared.

Graduate/Independent Student Research

Sac State Psychology student researchers who conduct research projects that collect data from human participants must have their proposed methods reviewed and approved by University IRB. Follow the steps below to begin your research.

  1. Complete the CITI training module; Human Subjects Research: Undergraduate and Masters Students
  2. Submit your research proposal for review to the University's IRB.
  3. After your research is approved by University IRB, complete the form linked below to request participants from the human subject pool. Request Participants Form
  4. If using the Psychology Department Human Subject Pool, follow the steps outlined in the section above starting in Phase 3 regarding the use of SONA Systems linked below.SONA Systems - Psychology Department Research Portal

Please note that researchers may not be allocated the total number of requested participants in a single semester. Researchers requesting large samples may need to collect data over several semesters.

Helpful Resources

Tips

Below are some useful tips to consider when setting up your study.

Follow the instructions provided by SONA Systems to set up your study in a way that automatically grants credit to participants upon completion. Select the link here to navigate to the instructions: https://www.sona-systems.com/help/

Follow the instructions provided by SONA Systems linked below to set up your Qualtrics survey correctly in SONA.

https://www.sona-systems.com/help/qualtrics/

When building your survey in Qualtrics, consider adding a "Response Required" feature to questions that are important for data collection. This will eliminate the possibility of participants skimming through the survey without answering appropriately.

This deadline is intended to limit the time allowed to participants for study completion. Participants have until the Friday before Finals Week to sign-up and complete research studies to earn credit. *Note that the cutoff time for participants to sign up for study timeslots is 6pm the night before.

Registration Deadline: Participants must register for a research session by 6:00 p.m. on the day before the scheduled session. This deadline ensures researchers have sufficient time to prepare for participant attendance.

Participants are required to communicate to the Researcher in advance if they are late or to be absent from a session.

Ensure that you select the appropriate type of study that you are conducting:

  • Standard (lab) study - in person sessions
  • Online External Study - online studies located on another website (e.g., Qualtrics, etc.)

Filling in content:

  • Abstract & Description - consider the viewpoint of participants.
  • Duration - the time you determined participants would need to complete your study and that was approved by the appropriate source.
  • Credit - the currency granted to participants upon study completion. This equates to the amount of time they spent completing the study where .25 is equal to 15 minutes. For example, a thirty minute study would be worth .50 credits, whereas a one hour study would be worth 1 credit.
  • Website - if study type is "Online External Study," ensure that the redirect to a URL is set-up correctly. Select "Detailed Help" for support.

Once the SONA Administrator has approved your study set-up in SONA and added the approved subject pool hours, you will then be able to administer timeslots.

Administer Timeslots:

  • Select the "Study Menu" tab to navigate to the "View/Administer Timeslots" page.
  • Select the "+ Add a Timeslot" button in the upper right side.
  • The Final Participation Date is the Friday before Finals Week at 11:59pm.

Study Menu:

  • The "Download Participant List" feature allows you to review sign-up details (excluding participant identifiers such as their name) to help review credit grants and determine if online study participants clicked the study link.
  • Adjust study set-up details by using "Change Study Information/Configuration" (changes need approval before implementation).