Online Research Participant Recruitment System

The "Psych Pool"

Policies and Procedures for Research Participants

 

How to Participate in Research Each semester, researchers in the UMKC Department of Psychology recruit students to participate in their research projects. While some projects involve visits to our laboratories at 4825 Troost, others may be completed online. Only those who have been invited, either in class, by their instructor, by a researcher, or via an advertisement or flier may sign up for studies. Students whose course instructors offer extra credit for research participation may also use the system to receive and keep track of participation credits. To participate in research projects, it is first necessary to register with our online system, called the Psych Pool. Quick Start Instructions        [Detailed instructions are also available ] Visit the following web site: http://umkc.sona-systems.com/ (will open in a new browser window) If you have already created an account in this system, just enter your User ID and Password and click "Log In" Otherwise, click on "Request an account here." in the lower left corner of that window Read the instructions that appear, then fill in your First and Last name, the User ID you would like to use (for example, your UMKC e-mail username), your e-mail address (twice, for verification), and a telephone where a researcher may contact you (if, say, a last-minute change in a session is needed). At the bottom, you will see a list of current courses for which the instructor is allowing research participation credit. You may select one or more of the courses in which you're enrolled, or you may select "Participate for no credit" if you're not enrolled in any of these classes and won't be wanting course credit for participation. Click the "Request an Account" button. After a few moments, you will receive an e-mail with your User ID and an automatically generated password (which you may change after logging in). Once you have a User ID and Password, you may use these to log in to the Psych Pool and view available experiments. Use the Study Sign-Up link to see the list and sign up. Complete instructions on using the system are available in this PDF document: http://cas.umkc.edu/psyc/pool/EMS_Participants.pdf If you have any problems or questions, please contact the Psych Pool Administrator.     Useful Information Psych Pool login: http://umkc.sona-systems.com/ Policies & procedures for particpants The section below lists policies and procedures that apply to all participants who use the UMKC Psych Pool to enroll in research projects in the UMKC Department of Psychology. Policies & procedures for researchers Visit this page if you are a Psychology Department researcher and would like to learn more about using the UMKC Psych Pool to recruit research participants. Policies & procedures for instructors Visit this page if you are teaching a course in the Psychology Department and would like to learn more about using the UMKC Psych Pool to have your students receive credit for participating in research in our department.     Research Participation Policies This section lists policies and procedures for participation in research studies in the University of Missouri - Kansas City Department of Psychology using the online system (the "Psych Pool"). The following is intended for all those who are eligible to participate in research in our department. Participation in most research projects is open to all UMKC students, faculty, and staff, depending on the study. Individual study descriptions will indicate who is eligible. Participation in research by those who are under 18 years of age is permitted for only some studies. Anyone younger than 18 yrs. must have a parent or other legal guardian sign a "Parental Consent Form", available from the researcher in charge of the study.   Sign-up Participants may sign up for studies using the online system. Cancellations must be made at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled start time. Failure to do so may result in a penalty (see below). Arriving late to an appointment may be treated as failure to show up (at the discretion of the experimenter). It is up to the participant to ensure that appropriate credit is assigned, when available. The system may be used to track research credits earned & applied. If you believe you failed to receive credit for participation from your instructor, contact your instructor. If earned hours fail to appear in the system, contact the experimenter.   Hours When participation is for course credit, such credits are assigned in 1/2 hour increments, rounding up. Students receive 1 credit for each hour of research participation. For example, a study lasting 10 minutes would result in 0.5 credits, while one lasting 40 minutes would result in 1 credit. Failure to show up for an appointment (or cancel within 24 hours) may result in a penalty (i.e., loss of the number of credits you would have otherwise earned), at the discretion of the researcher. " No-shows" and Penalties Any student may cancel a research appointment with at least 24 hours advance notice. If the student gives less than 24 hours notice, then the experimenter may assess a penalty (at their discretion). If a student fails to show up for a scheduled research appointment, then the experimenter may assess a penalty (at their discretion). The only allowable penalty is to subtract a number of hours/credits from the student's research participation total equal to the number of hours/credits they would have earned in the study. If the experimenter fails to show up for a scheduled research appointment, then the student should be credited with the same number of hours/credits they would have gotten had they participated. They may re-schedule with the experimenter if they wish, but they will not be given additional credits.   Compensation Not every study offers compensation; read the descriptions carefully. For studies that offer course credit, check with your instructor to make sure that this experiment is appropriate. For experiments offering other forms of compensation (e.g., cash payments), participants may receive either course credit or payment, but not both.   Disputes If a student feels they have been treated unfairly by an experimenter, they may petition the faculty coordinator to resolve the dispute (see our Psych Pool Administrator page for contact information).

Last updated: March 23, 2004