Appendix C: More Information on Participating in Research Through Carleton’s SONA System
More Information on Participating in Research Through Carleton’s SONA System
As is customary in all first-year Psychology courses, I have set aside 4pts of your grade in this course for this research participation credit. Each study is worth a certain percentage based on the amount of time it would typically take someone to complete the study. You can translate the percentage into points by simply dropping the percentage symbol (i.e., 2% = 2pts). You can select studies that are of interest to you – and you can choose to do as many or as few as you want (you can participate in as many studies as you want, but you can only earn up to 4pts, not more than 4). If you are not comfortable with the idea of participating in research, please email Lindsay.
You earn the credit based on the time it typically takes to participate in the study. You aren’t being “graded” on how well you do in the study—you are just being given credit for your time (being a participant in research helps you to learn about the research process—so we’re giving you credit for your time). If during the course of a particular study, you are not comfortable with participating in the study, then you have the right to withdraw from the study with no penalty.
Some research is conducted in a lab (perhaps working at a computer station, or perhaps working with other people), and some research is conducted online (filling out questionnaires online). For studies that are conducted in the lab, participants earn 1pt for each hour (0.5pts for each half hour) that the study is typically expected to take. For a study that is conducted online (i.e. a series of questionnaires that the participant can fill out online without having to come into a lab), the participant earns 0.5pts for each hour. The difference is intended to account for the time it takes the participant to come to the lab to participate (plus I really appreciate having people participate in lab studies).
The Psychology Department uses the SONA system as an online tool allowing participants to sign up for studies (a link will be provided on our course web site). The deadline for participation in research is [], and you will have until April 8 to complete it (if necessary). Do not wait until the end of the term to find studies in which to participate, as there may not be space available at the end. You should be checking the SONA system regularly throughout the semester, as new studies appear all the time, and disappear once they fill up.
- More information: http://www.carleton.ca/psychology/undergraduate/current-students/sona/
- Access the SONA system: http://carleton.sona-systems.com
Your credits for your research participation are stored in the SONA system (during the term, you can see your credits by going into the SONA system). After the last day of classes, the SONA Administrator will close the site and process all the credits. They will then email the credits to us, and I will then enter the credit information into our gradebook in our Brightspace web site (this will take a few days, but it will get done). Please do not worry or stress about SONA credits you’ve earned not appearing in Brightspace. I will send an email once they have been uploaded and, in the case that there is a discrepancy, you can email me (it is very easy to resolve this).