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Information for Research Participants
Department of Psychology, University of Chicago
If you have participated in research before as part of your psychology classes, you may be familiar with the system of signing up for experiments on the web, from the convenience of any computer at any time. The system allows you to volunteer either for financial compensation or for extra credit in a course should your instructor make this an option. If you volunteer for financial compensation, you will either receive payment at the conclusion of your participation or a university check will be mailed to you for the amount you earned. If the latter, your credit will be recorded on-line by the experimenter, and record keeping will be automatic.
You have the right to terminate participation in a study whenever you choose. You also have the right to have your data in this website deleted whenever you choose. To have your data deleted, notify the website administrator at rweather@midway.uchicago.edu.
If you are participating for extra credit for a course, alternative activities for earning extra course credit should also be provided by your instructor. For instance, the policy of the Department of Psychology is that you can earn up to the same total extra credit points by writing summaries of research articles that have appeared, for instance, in the Psychological Science. To be acceptable, each research summary should discuss the theory, hypotheses, constructs, measures, findings, and scientific limitations of the work covered in an article. A typical paper should be 2-3 pages in length (double spaced). You would receive one credit for each such summary paper up to the same maximum extra credit points as possible through research participation. Importantly, any such paper must be original work by you alone
Here are the details for signing up and participating in research:
DIRECTIONS FOR INITIAL VISIT TO WEBSITE:
In your initial visit to the website you will need to do complete the following steps:
1. Set up your username and password
2. Indicate the course or courses for which you plan to receive research credit. YOU MUST STILL MAKE A COURSE SELECTION EVEN IF YOU ARE PARTICIPATING FOR FINANCIAL COMPENSATION. Please select Psy 1000 as your course if are participating solely for financial compensation. The computer system requires that you specify a course, so if you specify Psy 1000, you will receive financial compensation (and not course credit).
Setting Up Your Username and Password
1. Go to main sign-up website at http://experimetrix.com/uchicago.
2. If you are not already enrolled as a user (some courses will automatically enroll students in the class), click on “New User” to register with the system and get a password.
IMPORTANT:
Instead of giving your first name when you register with the system, please give a code number instead. We recommend using your home phone number (that is, your parents’ home, or wherever you lived before coming to Chicago–not your local phone number), including area code. You need to remember this code number, because it is the way experimenters will identify you to give you credit for your participation.
For the last name, please give your initials.
Please use your University of Chicago ID for the student number. (Do not use your social security number or any other number.) Be sure your student number is accurate. We will use your student number to let your instructor know the amount of experiment credit you have received.
Your password will be sent to you by email. Please be sure you enter your email address correctly.
3. Once you have received your password, you MUST log in to the system within the next three days to keep your account active.
Receiving Proper Course Credit
4a. If you would like to sign up for an experiment in begin by clicking on “exchange for extra credit in a course, login and click on “Edit Your Course Selection.” Select the course for which you will receive credit. After you have selected your course click on “Apply Changes” at the top of the screen.
*** IMPORTANT! If you do not select a course, your credit may not be properly reported to your instructor. ***
4b. If you would like to sign up for an experiment in exchange for financial compensation, you will need to login and click on “Edit Your Course Selection” and select Psy 1000 as your course selection (which lets the experimenter know that you are participating for financial compensation rather than for course credit). Then click on “Apply Changes” at the top of the screen. You can then peruse the available studies to determine which, if any, provide the option of participating for financial compensation.
Changing Your Password
5. Go back one screen by clicking on the “Profile Options” button at the top of the screen.
6. If you would like to change your password, you may do so by clicking on “Edit Your Profile.” Make sure that your “first name” is a code number (we suggest your non-University of Chicago home phone number), and your last name is your initials. After you have made any corrections click on “Apply Changes” at the top of the screen. You are now ready to sign up for a research session.
HOW TO SIGN UP FOR A RESEARCH SESSION:
1. Go to “Sign-up Home” website at http://experimetrix.com/uchicago
2. Peruse brief descriptions of the experiments that are currently available and choose the one(s) in which you wish to participate.
3. Click on “Sign-up” and choose the session which you want to attend. You will receive an email confirming that you signed up for a session and a reminder email the night before you are supposed to participate. In addition, you can always go to the website and select 'log in' to review the list of experiments for which you signed up.
If you need to specify a course to sign up for a study and you are not in a course that is offering extra credit for participation, you can specify the course as “Research Participation 1000” or “RP 1000.”
4. Please be sure that you meet all of the qualifications for a study before signing up for it. Failing to meet the qualifications for a particular study may result in unusable data or disqualification from the study.
5. Write down the location of the experiment and the experimenter's name. If you don't know where the building where the experiment is being held is located, look it up on a campus map (click on "campus maps" from UChicago’s homepage). Make sure you know where you're going in advance of the study--don't be late for or miss your experiment because you can't find the building.
6. You can cancel and/or reschedule your research appointment by using the “Sign-up” section of the “Sign-up Home” website http://experimetrix.com/uchicago. Note, however, that this option must be used at least 4 hours prior to your scheduled appointment if you wish to cancel or reschedule.
Missing sessions without cancelling causes two problems: it is an inconvenience for the experimenter, and it prevents other students from signing up for that time slot. If you cannot attend a session that you have signed up for, you can cancel in advance using the Experimetrix website.
In summary, here’s what you need to do:
1. Log on to the system and register
2. Sign up for experiments
3. Show up at your appointment time
Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute!
Experiments will be running throughout the quarter, and we encourage you to sign up and participate early. If you wait until the last minute, you may be faced with an unpleasant surprise when there are fewer experiments available or the sessions are all filled.
New experiments are posted at various times throughout the quartersemester, depending on when individual experimenters are ready to begin their data collection. If no sessions are available when you sign in, check back in a week or so.
Questions?
If you have questions about how many hours of credit or extra credit are needed for your class, please refer to your syllabus or contact your instructor.
If you have questions about registering on http://experimetrix.com/uchicago or signing up for studies on the web, FIRST use the help functions on the website. Many common problems or frequently asked questions are addressed there. If you still are having problems, please contact the subject pool coordinator, Mr. Ray Weathers, at rweather@midway.uchicago.edu.
As a research participant, you have a right to be informed about any risks involved in the studies in which you participate. Most psychology studies have minimal risk, and all studies listed on this site have been reviewed and approved by a University of Chicago Institutional Review Board, a group dedicated to protecting the welfare of human research participants. However, if you have further questions about your rights as a research participant, you may contact the Social and Behavioral Sciences Institutional Review Board at sbsirb@ura.uchicago.edu 773-834-5805 FAX: 773-834-8700, Judd 121, 5835 S. Kimbark Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637.
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