SONA
To help fulfill the research mission of the ETSU Department of Psychology,
the psychology department uses Sona Systems to manage the student participant pool. Students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1310), Science & Pseudoscience (PSYC 1510), Social Psychology (PSYC 2000), and all other courses taught by participating instructors will use Sona to earn research credits in partial fulfillment of course requirements.
Instructions for Students Using Sona:
To use Sona, students must first visit Sona to create an account (the site is very secure and data are backed up redundantly and regularly). Students will then add the participating course(s) they are taking that semester and select the studies in which they would like to participate.
Check Sona Often. Please note that new studies and additional time slots are added regularly throughout the semester. If a study's time slots are full when you log into Sona, you will not see it, but the researcher will likely add time slots at another time, making the study visible when time slots are available. As a result, students should check Sona often for available studies.
Sona will keep track of the Sona credits students earn throughout the semester. The Sona administrator will then send this information to instructors at the end of the semester. That is, although students should keep track of the Sona credits they earn during a semester, they do not need to inform their instructor(s) of this; the Sona Administrator will do this at the end of each semester.
For students taking more than one participating course in a single semester, students may move credits from one course to another until the end of the semester to enable them to apply Sona research credits where they are most beneficial.
It is important to remember that participation in studies is voluntary and confidential and alternative assignments exist if a student wants to or is required to earn Sona credit but does not want to or is not able to participate in research.
Sona is also used for the research alternatives for PSYC 1310, 1510, and 2000. More information about the research requirement and the research alternatives for these courses can be found below.
Important note for Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1310), Science & Pseudoscience (PSYC 1510), and Social Psychology (PSYC 2000) students: Participation in Sona studies must be completed by 11:59pm on the Friday before final exams (this is typically ETSU study day). If you choose to complete alternative assignments, those must be completed by 11:59pm on the Tuesday before final exams.
Have questions or need assistance? Email etsusona@etsu.edu.
Research Requirement for Compass Core Courses PSYC 1310, 1510, & 2000
I. Description of Those Affected by the Research Exposure Requirement
All ETSU students taking the Compass Core courses Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1310), Science & Pseudoscience (PSYC 1510), and Social Psychology (PSYC 2000) are required to be exposed to research during the semester. Instructors for other courses may elect to include a research requirement in their courses as well.
II. Quantity of Research Exposure Requirement
Students will be required to earn 5 Sona credits, which may include participation in research, review & summary of empirical psychology research articles, or a combination of both options.
III. Determination and Documentation of Research Exposure Requirement
The required 5 Sona credits of research exposure will be assessed with a credit system, where up to 30 minutes of research exposure garners the equivalent of 0.5 Sona credits. Studies that are lab-based and thus require active participation on location, as opposed to online studies or research summaries, will typically yield higher (2-3x) than normal credits/points as an incentive to have students take the time to come in and participate in that type of research.
As individuals vary in the time it takes to complete relevant tasks, a standard number of credits are award for those tasks (i.e., participation in a study, completion of an alternative research assignment) based on estimations of the time it takes an average person to complete the relevant tasks. These standard credits are awarded regardless of the time taken by each individual. For example, an estimated hour of task engagement (be it study participation or a research article summary) would be listed as being worth one credit, but may take some participants 50 minutes to complete whereas a few others may need 70 minutes to complete the task. Regardless, each participant still receives one credit.
IV. Incorporation of Research Exposure Requirement into Course Grading
Each student must earn a total of 5 research credits. Fulfillment of the research requirement must be completed no later than the final day of the final week of classes prior to finals week. Deadlines for participation in Sona studies and completion of article summaries will be posted each semester by instructors for those courses.
Failure to complete this research requirement will result in a deduction of 1% point from the final grade for the course for each ½ credit the student is deficient. For example, if the final grade for the course was 90%, but only 4.5 research credits were earned, 1% would be deducted from the final grade resulting in an 89%. If only 2 research credits were earned, 6% would be deducted from the final grade resulting in an 84%. If no research credits were earned, 10% would be deducted from the final grade resulting in an 80%. All introductory psychology course instructors can offer additional extra credit beyond the five required points, up to a total to be determined by individual instructors. Generally, it is suggested that research exposure extra credit points be added to the final grade in terms of one final grade point per research exposure point obtained after the requirement has been met, up to a total of five points maximum to be added to the final grade (i.e., half a letter grade for 5 additional hours of research exposure beyond the five required). Extra credit points can be earned through additional participation in research, reading and writing critiques of additional research articles, or other extra credit tasks generated by the instructor, but research-related extra credit points would not be awarded until the five mandatory credits/points of research exposure are earned.
Have questions or need assistance? Email etsusona@etsu.edu.
Rationale for Research Exposure Requirement
East Tennessee State University
Department of Psychology
"Participating in a research activity by volunteering in a research study or by writing a short research paper as part of a course requirement relates to favorable perceptions of psychology and research, greater knowledge of procedures associated with participation, and [about] ... demographic and situational variables [involved in research]. College students who volunteered to participate in a research study were more satisfied with their experiences than those who wrote papers as a part of their research activity" (Bowman & Waite, 2003, p. 102).
It is a common and long-standing practice among university psychology departments to have research participant pools which draw from introductory psychology classes and written research assignments as alternatives to participation, and evidence demonstrates that students derive educational benefits from these experiences (e.g., Bowman & Waite, 2003; Britton, 1979; Coulter, 1986; Davis & Fernald, 1975; King, 1970; Landrum & Chastain, 1995; Miller, 1981; Sieber & Saks, 1989). Through participation in research, students become more familiar with research methods and can contribute to research outcomes. When students choose to become research participants, the data they provide furthers various scientific endeavors, helping to fulfill the scholarly purpose of a department. Publication or other presentations of research results, enhances the reputation of a department, in turn enhancing the reputation of a University, and this conveys additional benefit to faculty, staff, and students of the University. Also, students may wish to become involved in the conduct of research in preparation for graduate school or other professional roles, and this early exposure to the process helps provide a framework from which to better understand the future research they will help to conduct as laboratory assistants, honors students, and graduate students. Finally, students who participate in research or write papers about research become more familiar with the process of research and are, therefore, more informed consumers of research both inside and outside of class. Thus, this Department has instituted a research exposure requirement for its Introduction to Psychology course.
The American Psychological Association (2003) states in its Code of Ethics, "When research participation is a course requirement or an opportunity for extra credit, the prospective participant is given the choice of equitable alternative activities" (8.04[b]). In accordance with standard professional psychological practices, East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Institutional Review Board (IRB), and Departmental standards, we insist that student research participation be voluntary. Therefore, all students are given the opportunity to complete an alternate, time-equivalent, research-related activity (i.e., reading and critiquing research articles) to fulfill this research exposure requirement.
The Department has adopted a standard policy for the research exposure requirement, to ensure that: students are given clear rules; participation is not coercive; there are clear channels for student questions, concerns, or complaints; and, that administration provides for accurate record keeping and grading.
References
American Psychological Association (2003). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 20, 2007: http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html
Bowman, L.L., & Waite, B.M. (2003). Volunteering in research: Student satisfaction and educational benefits. Teaching of Psychology, 30, 102-106.
Britton, B. K. (1979). Ethical and educational aspects of participating as a subject in psychology experiments. Teaching of Psychology, 6, 95-198.
Coulter, X. (1986). Academic value of research participation by undergraduates. American Psychologist, 41, 317.
Davis, J. R. & Fernald, P. S. (1975). Psychology in action. Laboratory experience versus subject pool. American Psychologist, 30, 523-524.
King, D. J. (1970). The subject pool. American Psychologist, 25, 1179-1181.
Landrum, R. E., & Chastain, G. (1995). Experiment spot-checks: A method for assessing the educational value of undergraduate participation in research. IRB: A Review of Human Subjects Research, 17, 4-6.
Miller, A. (1981). A survey of introductory psychology subject pool practices among leading universities. Teaching of Psychology, 8, 211-213.
Sieber, J.E., & Saks, M.J. (1989). A census of subject pool characteristics and policies. American Psychologist, 44, 1053-1061.
Instructors & Researchers using Sona:
Instructors: The Sona Administrator will send you a credit report for each undergraduate course and for all other courses participating in Sona no later than the Monday of finals week (or the Saturday after winter and summer terms end).
Have questions or need assistance? Email etsusona@etsu.edu.
Human Participants Researchers:
All researchers who with to use the ETSU psychology participant pool must first obtain appropriate educational credentialing (CITI Human Subjects training) from the ETSU IRB. In addition, all studies in which students might participate must be approved by the ETSU IRB prior to recruiting participants.
Once you add your ETSU IRB-approved study to Sona, you must submit an approval request to the Sona Administrator in order for your study to be approved.
Please do not list time slots for any of your studies later than the Sona study participation deadline for a given semester.
All credits must be assigned by researchers to participants (and double-checked for accuracy) no later than 8:00am on the day following the Sona study participation deadline.
Researchers outside of the ETSU Department of Psychology: Sometimes researchers in departments outside of Psychology wish to list their studies on Sona. In exchange for this, we ask that researchers contribute to the participant pool. If they are unable to do so, they may discuss other possible options with the Sona administrator. Please email etsusona@etsu.edu.
Have questions or need assistance? Email etsusona@etsu.edu.