Research Experience (RE) Guidelines for Students

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Part of the course requirement for introductory Communication Studies courses (101, 205, 220 and 250) consists of participation in actual research conducted by the faculty and graduate students of the Department of Communication Studies. If you do not choose to participate in the experiments, you may write an 8 page paper referencing primary source literature in communication studies. The Research Coordinator has additional information about this second alternative.

Important Information

· The Research Coordinator is Mr. Ben DiPaola (Office: FSL 2-168; email: researchadmin@socmail.northwestern.edu)

· You must notify Mr. DiPaola if you choose to fulfill your research experience requirement by writing the term paper.

· Experiments will start running approximately March 29.

· The last day to complete this requirement is June 7th.

· When you register on the RE website, include your email address in your profile so that you can receive updates on new and available studies!

· RE online homepage: http://nucommstudies.sona-systems.com

· If you are NEW to RE, you must sign up for a new account (see “Getting Started).

· If you have used the SONA website with another department/school, you must also register on the Communication Studies website

· If you have used RE and the SONA website since the 2007-2008 year, just sign-in as you have in the past, DO NOT sign up for a new account. Contact the research coordinator for username information if you do not have a copy of it.

Background

Participating in this research experience will give you experience with original research in communication studies and first-hand knowledge of different research methods used in the field. All experiments have been approved by the Northwestern University Committee on the use of Human Subjects; the Committee follows guidelines established by the federal government (Department of Health and Human Services). Your participation in these experiments is a very important part of these introductory classes and is crucial to the research here in the Communication Studies Department. You are expected to take these experiments seriously. In other words, it is hoped that you will do your best to follow experimental instructions and to participate in an unbiased fashion. It is extremely important that you do not discuss experimental procedures or the purpose of each experiment with other students in the class. At the end of each experiment, the experimenter will explain to you the purposes of the experiment, what hypotheses were being tested and what results are expected.

While your participation is necessary to receive a grade in this course, you are not graded on your participation in experiments. Your grade is solely determined by exams and other class work, not by participation in experiments. However, you must fulfill the experimental requirement to receive your grade in the course.

Credits

For each course (101, 205, 220 and 250), you are required to fulfill 6 research credits (3 hours total). For example, see the table below:

Number of required courses (101, 205, 220, 250)	Credits needed to complete requirement
1	6 credits
2	12 credits
3	18 credits

In addition, to earn each credit, you must participate in an experiment or study of 30 minutes (or less) in length. For example, see the table below:

Experiment/study length	Credits awarded
30 minutes or less	1 credit
31-60 minutes	2 credits
61-90 minutes	3 credits

You are not allowed to participate in the same study more than once. If you sign up for a study you have already completed, you will not receive credit for participation.

Credits are generally awarded after an experiment is completed and is no longer open to participants.

Getting Started

Research Experience (RE) sign-ups and credit-tracking is handled online.

Getting Started with Research Experience Online:

I. How to get a login and password:

First, go to the RE Online homepage: http://nucommstudies.sona-systems.com/
In the bottom-left corner of the page you will see “New Participant?” and below that click on: “Request an account here.”
Enter the required information. NOTE: You must have a student identification number and an email account as this is the only way experimenters will be able to contact you.
You will receive an email with your logon and password. You must logon to the system within two days of receiving this email or else your account will be deactivated. If this happens, please email the Research Administrator at researchadmin@socmail.northwestern.edu

II. Logging on and creating a profile:

From the RE Online homepage, enter your login information.
The first time you log in to the system, you should change your password. This can be done by clicking the “My Profile” link at the top of the page.

Signing up for Experiments/Studies:

Once you have logged in, click on “Study Sign-Up.” The list of currently available experiments will be listed. You may browse and select the studies that you want to participate in from this list.

If the experiment is not conducted online, be sure to write down the study time, study date, study location, and study number. Please bring this information with you when you attend your experiment.
Go to your experimental session on time as scheduled. Be aware of whether the experiment starts on the hour or at ten minutes after the hour.
For online experiments, there will be an experiment deadline. This deadline is the date by which you must complete the online study or risk a penalty. See the section “Missing an Experiment and Penalty Credit” for more information.
For all experiments, you will receive an email confirmation of your appointment as well as a reminder email the day before the experiment.

Canceling an Experiment

If you cannot make a scheduled session for any reason, you must cancel it at least 30 minutes in advance or you will be considered a “no-show” and will receive additional penalty credits.

Remember, if you fail to attend an experiment that you did not cancel in time, you will be penalized one credit.
To cancel: After you log on from the homepage, click on “View or Cancel My Study Appointments” under the heading “My Schedule and Credits.”

Participating in an Online Experiment/Study

You may browse online studies at any time, but you will have to sign up for the study before you are allowed to access the website for the survey. After you complete the online survey, you will receive an email notifying you of your credit for participating. If you click on an online survey by accident and do not complete it, you must email the researcher to ensure that you are not penalized for skipping it. You are only allowed to take each survey ONCE, so if you click on the link by accident and would prefer to take the survey at another time, you must contact the researcher in order to do so.

When you participate in an online study, you will be required to enter your 5-digit “identity code” so researchers will be able to grant you credit for participating in their study. The website assigns this number to you, and you can find if you sign into the website and look under “my profile.” Your identity code is the number located below “Last name” when you’re looking at the ‘my profile’ screen.

If you do not enter your identity code correctly, researchers will not be able to grant you credit for your participation, so it is very important that you make note of this number before participating in any online study.

Participating in an Experiment (not online)

When you arrive for an experiment, the experimenter will describe the procedures you are to follow and you will read and sign a consent form. If for any reason you do not want to continue with the experiment after is has started, you are free to withdraw without penalty. You can withdraw at any time. If you withdraw from a 1-credit experiment, you will receive 1 credit. If you withdraw from a 2-credit experiment, you will receive 2 credits. If you withdraw from an experiment worth more than 2 credits, you will receive 2 credits and you will need to sign-up for the remaining credits (see below). You must contact the Research Coordinator, if you withdraw from an experiment. A word of caution: it is very important that you arrive on time. Experiments begin promptly at the designated time. Arriving even two minutes late may cause problems.

After the experiment, the experimenter will tell you what the experiment was about. In addition, the experimenter will keep a record of your participation, independent and not associated with your experiment or study responses. Please fill out any required information. It is recommended that you bring your “Identity code” (found under “My Profile” on the SONA website) in order to assist the experimenter in assigning your credit. On a regular basis, the experimenter will submit information from this form to the online RE system. You may sign on to the system using your password to obtain information on how many credits you have.

Experiment Cancelled (by the experimenter)

· You will receive an email notifying you of the cancellation whenever possible, or the cancellation will be posted on the RE site. Be sure to check the site and your email before the scheduled time for the experiment.

· If you arrive for an experiment and find that the session has been canceled without your being notified or the experimenter does not show up (known as an "experimenter no-show”), you are entitled to two free credits, if the experiment was worth two or more credits. You will receive one free credit if the experiment was worth one credit. If the experimenter is there, make sure he/she notes the credit on your assignment sheet to indicate that you did show up for the experiment. If the experimenter is not there, you must wait at least 15 minutes before leaving. Email the Research Coordinator explaining that you showed up for the experiment but no one was there. It is very important that you list the name of the experimenter, the date and time of the experiment, and where you went for the experiment. It is possible that you went to the wrong location. If so, you will be required to schedule another time for the experiment.

· Remember: If the experiment was for more than two credits, (e.g., four credits), you receive only two free credits and will have to sign up for a different experiment to earn the remaining credits. Also, remember that if the experimenter cancels an experiment in advance, either online, by calling or emailing you, you will not receive free credit as above. Simply schedule another time to participate.

Arriving Late

If you arrive late for an experiment, the experimenter may not be able to run you at the scheduled time and you will need to schedule another time to participate in the experiment. Experiments begin precisely at the specified time. Arriving even two minutes late may be too late for you to participate in that session and you will need to reschedule another time to participate. Experimenters usually post a sign noting that an experiment has already begun. Put your name on this sign so that the experimenter does not report you as a no-show.

Missing an Experiment & Penalty Credits

No Show: You missed an experiment. If the experiment was worth 1 credit, you are assigned one additional credit to complete. If the experiment was worth two or more credits, you are assigned up to two additional credits. REMEMBER! YOU MUST STILL PARTICIPATE IN THE EXPERIMENT YOU MISSED AS WELL AS THE ADDITIONAL EXPERIMENT(s)

Deadline for Completing Experiments

To ensure that you will receive your grade, all 6 credits plus any additional penalty credits must be earned by the final class period. There is no guarantee that credits you earn after that point will be recorded in time to prevent you from getting an incomplete for the quarter. However, these credits will be recorded by the beginning of the next quarter. If you do receive an incomplete, you will be assigned the necessary number of credits the following quarter once you have requested this action. As soon as you fulfill the requirement, your incomplete will be changed to the grade you earned in the class.

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