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Researcher Instructions for Using the Psychological Science “Participant Pool”
Through the Sona Website
Spring 2016
Faculty and advanced students who are conducting research with human participants and who are interested in
using the Psychology Participant Pool may do so provided these guidelines are followed.
1. ALL research projects involving humans MUST first be reviewed and APPROVED by the Human Studies
Council (HSC). This is a University committee that evaluates the ethical nature of each proposed study.
Failure to complete the review process will render you ineligible to utilize the participant pool as dictated
by University and Federal Regulations.
GRADUATE ASSITANTS AND THE SONA COORDINATOR, DR. SIKORSKI, WILL BE MONITORING
THE SONA SYSTEM AND LOOKING FOR RULE VIOLATIONS ON A WEEKLY BASIS.
RESEARCHERS WHO VIOLATE THE SONA RULES FOR RESEARCHERS WILL RECEIVE A
WARNING EMAIL FROM THE SONA COORDINATOR. YOUR FACULTY SUPERVISOR/COURSE
INSTRUCTOR WILL BE COPIED ON THIS EMAIL AND ON ANY FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE.
RESEARCHERS WHO VIOLATE THE SONA RULES FOR RESEARCHERS A SECOND TIME WILL
RECEIVE A SECOND WARNING EMAIL FROM THE SONA COORDINATOR. SHOULD
RESEARCHERS, DESPITE TWO WARNINGS, ACCUMULATE A THIRD VIOLATION OF SONA
RULES, THEIR STUDY WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE SONA SYSTEM AND THEY WILL NO
LONGER BE ABLE TO COLLECT DATA FROM PARTICIPANTS. THE RESEARCHER’S STUDY
WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE SONA SYSTEM UNTIL THEIR RESEARCH METHODS
PROFESSOR OR THEIR FACULTY SUPERVISOR FOR THEIR RESEARCH STUDY CONTACTS THE
SONA COORDINATOR TO INSTRUCT THE SONA COORDINATOR TO ALLOW THE RESEARCHER
TO AGAIN BE ALLOWED TO COLLECT DATA. EACH INDIVIDUAL PROFESSOR OR SUPERVISOR
MAY REQUIRE STUDENT RESEARCHERS TO PROVE THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF SONA RULES
BEFORE BEING ALLOWED ACCESS TO PARTICIPANTS VIA SONA. ANY SUBSEQUENT
VIOLATION OF SONA RULES WILL RESULT IN CONSEQUENCES DECIDED UPON BY EACH
INDIVIDUAL FACULTY SUPERVISOR OR RESEARCH METHODS PROFESSOR.
You will need to read this entire document for a complete listing of rules. If you have any questions
about the rules you should discuss them with your research supervisor/course instructor and/or with
the SONA coordinator. Here is a brief summary of the rules that will lead to violation warnings:
- Signing out more than 1 hour of time slots per day
- Signing out rooms more than 2 weeks in advance
- Choosing a room and time not attached to the list of rules (unless you worked something out with
another professor and got your own rooms signed out)
- Any Study Description Violations (See Rules for specific details on this)
- Failing to Show Up or Showing up Late by more than 10 minutes to a scheduled study time
- Failing to assign credit to participants in 48 hours
- The most glaring violation is when researchers cancel their research study within 24 hours
before the study is to take place. This should never happen or happen very, very rarely. If a
researcher has to cancel a study that is within 24 hours from when data collection was to take
place, PLEASE DO NOT JUST ERASE THE STUDY TIME AND THE RECORD OF
PARTICIPANTS. You should email all of the participants and let them know of your emergency
situation and then award full credit to every participant who was signed up. Participants should
not be inconvenienced for your study cancellation. If you cancel the study before there are 24
hours to go until the data collection, you can email participants and let them know that the data
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collection is canceled and that they are free to sign up for the study at another time. In this case,
you award each participant, no credit and no penalty.
You can obtain a copy of the appropriate forms from:
A. Office of Grants and Funded Research - Barnard 120 (860) 832-2366
OR
B. Access the following website: http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=471
OR
C. If you are enrolled in Psychology 222 (Research Methods II), Psychology 597 (Graduate Research), or a
MA thesis graduate student, obtain the forms and follow the instructions of your professor/thesis advisor.
D. Notes regarding consent forms:
I.
PLEASE STATE IN YOUR CONSENT FORM THAT STUDENTS MUST BE 18 OR
OLDER OR THEY MUST HAVE TURNED IN THE COMPLETED PARENTAL
PERMISSION TO THEIR INSTRUCTOR IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE. There is no
need to restrict participation to students who are 18 or older. Underage students may
participate, as long as they have parental consent. Of course, you may restrict participants
to those who are age 18 years or older if that is your intent.
Here is an example consent form statement: “My signature indicates that I am either 18
years of age or older, or that I have filed a parental consent form with my instructor.”
II.
PLEASE NOTE THAT UNDERAGE PARTICIPANTS DO NOT NEED TO SHOW
THE SIGNED PARENTAL CONSENT FORM TO EVERY EXPERIMENTER. THEY
GIVE IT TO THEIR INSTRUCTOR.
III.
Please include the following notice in all written consent forms: If you have questions
about your rights as a research participant or if you have a researchrelated complaint please contact Dr. Jennifer Hedlund, Chair, CCSU
Human Studies Council at (860) 832-2968, e-mail hedlund@ccsu.edu.
2. After HSC approval, recruit participants:
Room Sign-ups:
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Use Sona to sign up for rooms.
You may sign up to use a room for no more than one hour per day. Do not exceed this
number, as many researchers need to use the rooms.
Do not sign up for a room more than two weeks in advance.

When you add a timeslot for your study, you will be prompted for a location and time. Choose a
room from the attached list (using the scroll-down function in SONA) that is available during the
time you are posting the study. THE LIST OF AVAILABLE ROOMS WILL NOT BE
AVAILABLE UNTIL 2-3 WEEKS INTO THE SEMESTER.
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CONSULT THE ATTACHED SCHEDULE AND DO NOT RESERVE ROOMS AT
TIMES WHEN THEY ARE UNAVAILALBE.
SONA DOES NOT KNOW IF YOU SIGN UP FOR A ROOM THAT IS BEING USED FOR A
PURPOSE OTHER THAN RESEARCH (E.G., BY A PROFESSOR TEACHING A CLASS). IT
ONLY KNOWS IF SOMEONE REGISTERED ON SONA IS USING A ROOM FOR RESEARCH
AT A PARTICULAR TIME. DO NOT ASSUME THAT BECAUSE SONA ALLOWS YOU TO
CHOOSE A ROOM AT A TIME NOT LISTED ON THE SCHEDULE, IT MEANS THE ROOM
IS FREE. IT DOES NOT. IF YOU MAKE SUCH AN ASSUMPTION, YOU MAY WALK IN ON
A CLASS THAT’S IN SESSION.
NEVER SCHEDULE A TIME FOR YOUR STUDY WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING
THE ATTACHED SCHEDULE OF ROOM AVAILABILITY.
B. Using the Website (Sona Systems)
1. You must make a request to be added to the system as a researcher.
•If you are a PSY 222 or 597 student, your instructor will add your name to the system.
•If you are not in one of the classes listed above, please contact Dr. Jason Sikorski at
sikorskijaf@ccsu.edu. He will add your information if you can confirm that you are being supervised by a
faculty member in the Department of Psychological Science at CCSU.
•Once you are added to the system, you will receive an email from “Research Participation System”
containing your username and password.
2.
Once you have your username and password, go to http://ccsu.sona-systems.com and log onto the
system.
Once you log on, you will be on the “Research Participation System” page. From there you can edit
information such as your password and email address. Just go to My Profile and edit as desired.
Note: The My Profile menu has an option to receive reminders of your scheduled appointments,
which you may find useful.
3.
To add a new study, click on Add New Study
There are several options here. Most students will select Standard Study.
• Enter the study name, study description, your instructor (the “Principal Investigator” for the
study), eligibility requirements (most researchers will have none), the HSC approval number and
expiration data, etc., under Study Information.
• Note: You MUST enter a valid HSC approval code for the study. You will not be able to post
the study without one!
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•You must enter an end date for the HSC approval code. Please note that all HSC codes
(even the ones from PSY 222 or 597 instructors) last for one year after they are received.
Please make sure that the end date is THE LATEST POSSIBLE DATE for your study.
If you do this, you will avoid problems logging onto Sona later in the semester when you want
to change credits, etc.
• Make sure you click “yes” by Approved and Active Study. If you do not do this, people
will not be able to sign up for your study.
• Your study description must follow these guidelines:
• Provide a brief rationale for the study. Do not give too much detail, just the gist of the
study. An example might be “You are being asked to participate in a study of college
students’ Internet use”.
• What will the participants do? Limit the description to actual tasks, for example,
“Participants will complete a survey regarding Internet use. They will also provide
information on their age and gender”.
• Indicate about how long the study might take. Be honest, and do not use phrases meant to
make your study more attractive like, “Get your credits fast!” or “5-minute study!!”.
Simply state the estimated time, for example, “the survey usually takes about 15 minutes, but
some participants may require more time”.
• Note that when studies are offered to Participants, they are listed in random order. Loading up
your title with leading “A”s or symbols only makes SONA management more difficult for the
Administrators.
• Include your contact information.
• Do not mention incentives like “Free candy!”
•Once you have completed the steps outlined above, scroll down to “Advanced Settings” and find
Participant Sign-Up Deadline and Participant Cancellation Deadline. THE DEFAULT IS 24
HOURS FOR EACH OF THESE, BUT YOU SHOULD SPECIFY YOUR OWN DEADLINES
FOR SIGN-UPS AND CANCELLATIONS.
• Hint: When you add your study, you might want to scroll down to “Advanced Settings” and select
the option: Should researcher receive email when a participant signs up or cancels?
• After you add a study, you will see a summary window that will indicate that your study has
been added. You should view your study information to make sure it is correct. If it isn’t, scroll
down and select Change Study Information. Edit information as needed.
4. Add time slots
• Log onto the Sona Systems website and go to My Studies
• Once in the My Studies window, click on Timeslots
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• You can add one timeslot at a time, or multiple slots.
• To add multiple timeslots, just choose Add Multiple Timeslots and indicate the number of slots you
want to add for a particular day. Specify how long you want slots to last, and how many minutes
you would like between timeslots.
•Indicate the room in which the study will take place. You need to enter a room number (i.e.,
“location”) for each time slot.
•You may sign up to use a room for one hour per day. For instance, you can then sign out 2
30 minute sessions or 3 20 minute sessions. Do not exceed 1 hour of room sign ups per day.
•Do not sign up for a room more than two weeks in advance.
•CONSULT THE ATTACHED SCHEDULE AND DO NOT RESERVE ROOMS AT
TIMES THAT THEY ARE UNAVAILABLE. USE THE SCROLL-DOWN FUNCTION
IN SONA TO CHOOSE THE ROOM. USE THE ATTACHED SCHEDULE TO PICK A
DAY AND TIME. THIS WAY, SONA CAN WARN YOU IF YOU HAVE DOUBLEBOOKED.
•Hint: A quick way to add slots is to copy time slots you have already created and modify
accordingly. You can do this from the Add Multiple Timeslots page.
5. Assign credit to your participants
• When you run your sessions, be sure to keep track of the participants who do show up so you can
award proper credit. My Studies will allow you to see who has signed up for your sessions. Doublecheck this as your participants arrive. Only participants who have signed up through the website will
appear in this database. Only give credit to those who actually show up. If they sign-up, but do not
show-up, and have not cancelled by the deadline you have specified, you can designate them as an
“unexcused no-show.” If they accumulate enough of these they will be barred from further
participation. IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED THAT RESEARCHERS DO NOT ALLOW STUDENT
PARTICIPANTS TO TAKE PART IN STUDY SESSIONS WITHOUT SIGNING UP THROUGH
THE SONA SYSTEM.
• After you finish each session, you must award credit (“no-show” or “unexcused no-show”) to
your participants immediately. Failure to assign credit within 48 hours represents a SONA rules
violation and penalties could result. Further, participants will email you incessantly if you are a
little late in assigning credits, which can be a hassle.
Instructions for assigning credits (or “no-show” or “unexcused no-show”):
•Log onto the Sona Systems website. You’ll immediately see the Research Participation page.
• Go to My Studies and click on your study.
• Click on View/Administer Time Slots. You will see a list of participants who are awaiting
assignment of credits or penalties.
• Click Modify
• Under Sign-Ups, assign credits/“no-show” or “unexcused no-show” as appropriate
• Click Update Sign-Ups. Once you do this, you’ll see an updated list of participants with their
status (e.g., “Credit Granted”) beside their names.
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• Make sure the number of credits you assign is correct. If you make a mistake you can easily
change it by repeating this process. It would be unethical to take away credit that has already
been assigned and posted.
• It is imperative that you apply credit on the day you collect data. Failure to do so 1) will
preclude future use of the participant pool; and 2) if you are a student, you will be reported
to your research methods professor or faculty advisor. Even if you are collecting data on
several days, you must apply credit at the conclusion of each day. If you have questions talk with
your professor or Dr. Sikorski.
• Note to students: If you do not assign credit within two days, you will receive the following
message via email:
“This email is to notify you that you have 1 study timeslot(s) more than 2 days
old that await your response. More information can be found by logging onto the
site: http://ccsu.sona-systems.com”
The Sona System administrator will also receive the message, and will forward it to your
instructor.
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If you allow “walk-ins,” participants who show up without signing up, you will have to scroll to
the bottom of the Update Sign-ups screen for a particular session and add the person’s name.
Then you will be able to award the credit.
C. Deadline
All studies must be completed and all credits/no shows submitted by NO LATER than April
29th at 5:00pm. It is imperative that all credits/no shows be submitted by this time.
D. Important Note to Students
1. Only faculty and graduate students are permitted to run online surveys. If you plan
to run an online study, please inform Dr. Conway as soon as possible and do confirm
that your supervisor or professor has approved you to conduct a study online.
2. When the studies are displayed to participants, they are listed in random order.