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Policies and Procedures for Researchers

This document lists policies and procedures for research participant recruitment in the University of Missouri - Kansas City Department of Psychology using the research participant recruitment system (the "Psych Pool"). The following is intended for all Psychology Department researchers (both faculty and students).

 

Purpose of the Psych Pool

The UMKC Psychology Psych Pool has two, parallel goals:

1. Facilitate recruitment of research participants by Department of Psychology researchers.

2. Enhance student education by facilitating participating in psychology research.

By involving students as research participants, we offer the opportunity to experience firsthand the concepts they learn about in their courses. This is consistent with the research orientation of the goals of the Psychology Undergraduate Program.

Facilitating recruitment for department researchers supports the research mission of the Department of Psychology.

 

Usage

The Psychology Department research participant recruitment system (the "Psych Pool") is available for the use of any faculty or student researcher in the UMKC Department of Psychology. "Faculty" refers to regular, full-time faculty whose primary appointment is in the UMKC Department of Psychology (including tenured, tenure-track, and research faculty). "Student" refers both to graduate students working with a department faculty member (defined above) or to undergraduate psychology majors working with a department faculty member. Students registering to use the Psych Pool are required to list the name and contact information for their faculty sponsor.

 

Policies

All researchers using the Psych Pool must complete training in human subjects research, as required by the UMKC Institutional Review Board. They must also be listed on the appropriate IRB protocol for the study listed.

Faculty and student researchers must obtain a username and password from the Psych Pool Administrator prior to setting up a new study and recruiting participants.

Participants who fail to show up for a scheduled session should be listed as a "No-show" (unless they have an acceptable excuse, in which case you may, at your own discretion, cancel their session instead). Note that participants with more than one no-show may be removed fromt the Psych Pool for the remainder of that semester.

If you fail to show up to a session, or cancel with the subject with less than 24 hrs. notice, then you must assign them the same credit they would have received had they participated.

It is the responsibility of the researcher to assign research credit promptly upon completion of each session. This must be done within 24 hours of the end of the session. (Remember, if we can hold them to a 24-hour cancellation deadline, they should be able to hold us to a 24-hour credit deadline.)

 

Institutional Review Board

All studies listed in the Psych Pool must have current approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) at UMKC. Upon expiration or lapse of IRB approval, the experiment will be made inactive. IRB renewal will be required before the sudy can be re-activated.

All personnel involved in the study (faculty sponsors and student investigators) should be listed in that study's IRB protocol.

When you submit your IRB protocol, you should include in the "Recruitment Process" section text that indicates you will be using the Psych Pool as well as the text of the study description you will be using. Here is some sample text:
Participants will be recruited using the Psychology Department's online research participant recruitment system. The study will be given the following title: "This is my study's descriptive title"
The following text will appear in the system to describe this study:
"You are invited to participate in a research study in the UMKC Department of Psychology investigating [what?]. This study will take place in the UMKC Department of Psychology, located at 4825 Troost, Room [which?], and is open to [who?]. Participation in this study will take [how long?]. During this time you will [do what?]."
Details on this system itself may be found on our web site: http://cas.umkc.edu/psychology/Psych_Pool.asp

You may also want to include something like the following in the "Compensation" section:
Participants recruited from Psychology Department courses may, at the discretion of the instructor, receive extra course credit for participating in this study. Participants who sign up using the online recruitment system will be credited using that system. (Instructors may print lists of students who participated at the end of the semester.)

For existing protocols that don't currently include these provisions, an amendment should be submitted and approved prior to use of the Psych Pool. (If you have already indicated that you will use the online system, but did not include the description, this may usually be submitted as a minor revision to the IRB administrator.)

For more information about adding use of the Psych Pool to IRB protocols, contact the Psych Pool Administrator.

Exemption:

Some projects where data are not being used for "research" may be exempt from IRB oversight, for example those collected for training or teaching purposes. If this is the case, then the researcher/instructor must apply to the IRB for an exemption.

No project will be listed without specific IRB approval or exemption. After you set up your study in the online system (including both the IRB protocol number and the date this protocol expires), you should take a printout of your IRB protocol approval letter to Cathy Rawlings in the Department Office. Only after this is done will your study be made available to participants.

Please review the Policies and Procedures for Research Participants prior to using the Psych Pool.