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2. What will I be asked to do in these studies? What are they all about? 3. Will my participation be confidential? 4. How can I be sure that it is safe to participate in these studies? 5. How much money can I earn by participating? 6. What is the difference between "Registering" and "Signing Up" for studies? 7. If I register now, will I be registered automatically for next semester, too? 8. Can my roommate (friend, spouse, etc.) and I use the same email address when registering? 9. I am already registered and have forgotten my password. What do I do? 10. How can I change my password? 11. I have a new email address. How can I update it on the Study Pool site? 12. I am not a Harvard student. Can I participate in studies at Harvard? 13. I work for Harvard, but only part-time. Can I still participate? 14. Can I participate in online studies? 16. I came to my study appointment. Why didn't I get paid? 18. Where is the Study Pool Office? 19. How long do the studies last? 20. Can I work on homework or other work during an experiment? 21. Something has come up and I can not make my study appointment. How do I cancel? 24. How do I get more information about the study in which I participated? 25. How do I unsubscribe or remove my account from the Study Pool? 26. I found a glitch or error on your web pages. Whom can I notify?
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The Harvard Psychology Department administers a Study Pool (an online pool of current research studies from which potential subjects can select) in Introductory Psychology Classes (Living Systems 20, Psychological Science) and Tier 2 (foundation) classes (Psych 13, 15, 16, and other selected courses/seminars) as well as for members of the community who would like to participate for pay. Students in these Psychology courses may either sign up to participate in up to five study hours for course credit or complete alternate assignments determined by their course instructor. Graduate students, undergraduate thesis writers, Board of Honors Tutors (specifically for student projects), and faculty may apply to use this Study Pool for their research. The Pool serves both to introduce students and members of the community to the process of psychological research and to provide members of the department with participants for their research studies. The Study Pool is guided
by two principles: 1) Participation must be educational and 2) it must
be voluntary. 2. What will I be asked to do in these studies? What are they all about? There are many kinds of studies done in our department. For example, you might be asked to fill out questionnaires, to view videos, interact with others in a group, or make judgments on a computer. All studies are reviewed and approved in advance by the Harvard University Committee for the Use of Human Subjects, and by the Department of Psychology Study Pool Committee. But of course, you are the one who will have information about what participation will be like so that you can make your own informed decision.
3. Will my participation be confidential? Your participation
in Psychological research at Harvard will remain confidential and your
identity will not be stored with your data. If you sign up to participate
in Psychology studies through our online appointment system, you will
be assigned a numeric code and shown the security
policy. Your responses will be assigned a code number, and the list
connecting your name with this number will be kept in a locked room and
will be destroyed once all the data have been collected and analyzed.
The experimenter will provide you with a Consent Form at the beginning
of the study, assuring you of your rights to confidentiality. 4. How can I be sure that it is safe to participate in these studies? The Psychology Department mandates that all studies included in the Study Pool will meet the ethical standards of the field and rules of the University, particularly the following: 1. Participants must be permitted to terminate participation in the experiment at any point. 2. The study must be approved specifically for use in the Study Pool by the Study Pool Committee and the Committee on the Use of Human Subjects in Research. 3. Participants must sign an informed Consent Form. 4. Studies that use deception should debrief participants appropriately, as determined by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). 5. How much money can I earn by participating? If you are participating
in studies for pay and you are not on the Harvard University payroll,
you can generally earn $5 for a half-hour study and $10 for a full hour.
The length of study and the payment amounts differ depending on what you
will be asked to do. Some online studies may send payment to participants
through the mail. Check the study descriptions for compensation details.
6. What is the difference between "Registering" and "Signing Up" for studies? Registering in the Study Pool means that you receive a login and password to use the Study Pool appointment system. Registering does not automatically sign you up for studies. Signing up for studies: Once you register (receive your login and password from the site), you can log in and view the available studies and select which ones in which you are interested and then choose an appointment time. Once you make an appointment, you will receive an email confirmation and reminder of that appointment time. More information is available on the "Sign Up for Studies" page. 7. If I register now, will I be registered automatically for next semester, too? Yes. However, you will have to log back in to the system using your password in order to reactivate your account from semester to semester. Your account will sit dormant until you log in again. 8. Can my roommate (friend, spouse, etc.) and I use the same email address when registering? No. Every participant must have a unique email address. Participants will receive their study appointment confirmations by email and this information is considered private. If you do not have an email address, both Hotmail and Yahoo provide free email service. Once you have an account, you may register in the Study Pool. 9. I am already registered and have forgotten my password. What do I do? If you have forgotten your password, you can have a new one emailed to you by selecting "Forgot Password" from the Sona (online appointment system) homepage. You can change your password again by logging in to your account again and visiting "My Profile." 10. How can I change my password? Log in to the Sona site and select "My Profile" from the menu options. You can change your password here. It is recommended that, after you receive your initial password, you change your password to something you can easily remember. 11. I have a new email address. How can I update it on the Study Pool site? If you have a new email address, please update it by logging in to your Sona account and clicking on "My Profile" and selecting the "Change your Email Address" option so that you can continue to receive study appointment confirmations and reminders. 12. I am not a Harvard student. Can I participate in studies at Harvard? Members of the community are invited to participate in studies in the Psychology Department at Harvard for pay. Thank you for your interest. If you are having trouble signing up or have questions about participation, please contact the Study Administrator. 13. I work for Harvard, but only part-time. Can I still participate? If you are currently
an employee of Harvard University, please contact the Study
Administrator to find out whether you are eligible to participate.
14. Can I participate in online studies? We occasionally have online studies posted throughout the academic year, but unfortunately there is not a way to sort these out from the rest. However, the online studies are usually clearly marked as such in the descriptions. Researchers post new studies all the time, so please feel free to bookmark the site and check back and see whether there are any new ones posted that might be of interest to you. 15. I was registered for studies in the Study Pool, but I haven't participated in a study in over half a year. Am I still eligible? Perhaps. However, your account may have gone dormant based on your inactivity. Try logging in to the site and entering your password. If you have forgotten your password, you can have a new one emailed to you by selecting the "Forgot Password" option from the Sign-up page. If this does not work, try registering as a New User again on the same page. 16. I came to my study appointment. Why didn't I get credit/paid? If you are late to a study, the researcher is under no obligation to pay you or award you credit for your participation. You are expected to arrive on time to the study so that the study can begin promptly as scheduled. Late arrivals are not accepted because they potentially inconvenience everyone involved. Often, a researcher will have scheduled another participant immediately after your appointment and therefore cannot run you if you are late. Please allow extra time for travel in case of traffic, weather, or unusual circumstances. Also, as the elevators in William James Hall are frequently in use, it often takes several minutes to arrive at the upper floors where your study may be located. The researcher makes the final call on the time of arrival. If you have questions or concerns, contact the Study Administrator. Please also refer to the Study Pool Late/No-Show Policy. 17. I am a student participating in the Study Pool for Psychology course credit. How do I make sure my study credits get assigned to my Psychology course? Research participation points in the Sona online system should be automatically credited to your class, provided you have made your course selection in your Profile. If you have not received credit for a study you completed within 72 hours of the appointment time, please contact the experimenter who conducted that study. 18. Where is the Study Pool Office? The Study Pool Office is located in 234 William James Hall. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm. Should you have questions about participating in Psychology studies at Harvard, please feel free to contact the Study Administrator at studypool@wjh.harvard.edu. 19. How long do the studies last? Studies differ in their length and level of involvement, but studies generally run from about a half hour to 2 hours. As you are signing up, check the study descriptions for details. 20. Can I work on homework or other work during an experiment? Generally the answer is NO. Researchers must minimize distractions and ensure participants are engaged fully in the study. On rare occasions when a researcher chooses to make an exception, he/she will let you know. 21. Something has come up and I can not make my study appointment. How do I cancel? You may cancel your appointment with your experimenter more than 24 hours in advance by logging in to your account and clicking on the Cancel option. If you realize you need to cancel your appointment in less than 24 hours to your scheduled time, you must contact the researcher (information provided in the study description or in your reminder email) and ask to cancel. The researcher can then cancel the appointment for you. It is then up to the researcher whether they will agree to reschedule you for that appointment. If you miss a study appointment and do not contact the researcher ahead of time, your name will be added to a review list. If you miss a second study appointment, you may be withdrawn from participation in the Study Pool. The Study Administrator will be notified via the online system when you have missed two study appointments without notifying the researcher. Please refer to the Late/No-Show Policy for more details. 22. Something came up and I could not make my study appointment, but I never cancelled with the researcher. What do I do? If you missed a study appointment, you should contact the researcher and explain the situation so that they can remove your name from the subject review list. It is then at their discretion whether they will reschedule you, though they are under no obligation to do so. 23. I was turned away because the researcher said I was not on the list, even though I signed up for an appointment through the Study Pool site. What can I do? You can access your appointment schedule from any computer that has internet access. Check the schedule and make sure you have the right time and the right location. Studies are being run on several different floors in the building and sometimes in other locations on campus. If you had the correct location and the researcher was unaware of this, please let the Study Administrator know. 24. How do I get more information about the study in which I participated? As a participant, you are entitled to receive a Debriefing Form outlining the hypotheses and research process upon completion of the study. In addition to this, you are welcome to use the contact information listed on the Debriefing Form to get in touch with the researcher about the analysis or publication of the data. 25. How do I unsubscribe or remove my account from the Study Pool? You do not need to do anything if you no longer wish to participate in Psychology Studies. Your account will go dormant and eventually be deleted if you do not log in again. If you want to be certain you are removed, you can email the Study Administrator and ask that your account be deleted from the system. If you later decide to participate again, you can log in as a new user and receive a new password. 26. I found a glitch or error on your web pages. Whom can I notify? We appreciate your help. If you have found an error, please notify the Study Administrator by email. |
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Harvard University Home | Psychology Department Home Psychology Study Pool at Harvard University Contact the Study Administrator Copyright 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College |
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