Research Subjects: Participant Pool Policy and Procedures
Overview
The participant pool is a mutually beneficial arrangement between researchers and students in the Department of Communication Studies. The benefits to researchers are straightforward: they gain easy access to a large set of potential research volunteers in participating undergraduate courses. The benefits to students are also significant, but researchers must ensure that they are realized. First, students may earn extra credit toward their grades in participating courses (the amount of which is determined by the instructor). It is up to researchers to ensure that students’ participation is accurately recorded and to inform instructors in a timely manner of the participation credit their students have earned. Secondly, the pool provides opportunities for students to acquire first-hand knowledge of the research methods in communication. This is the more important educational objective and its fulfillment depends on researchers’ willingness to abide by ethical practices before (securing informed consent), during (following IRB-approved procedures), and after (debriefing) their interactions with participants. (See current research studies)
Eligibility
All CMS faculty and graduate students are eligible to apply for use of the participant pool. Undergraduates who are sponsored by a CMS faculty member are also eligible to apply.
Application Procedure
Obtain IRB Approval. Researchers must obtain written approval from UT-Austin’s Institutional Review Board before applying for use of the participant pool. Under no circumstances will pool applications be approved before the IRB has approved the project proposal. UT’s Office of Research Support and Compliance maintains a web site that provides step-by-step instructions for seeking IRB approval (www.utexas.edu/research/rsc/index.html).
File a CMS Participant Pool Application. Download the application: word file or PDF and fill in the requested information using MS Word. The IRB protocol number and project title (the exact title that appeared in your IRB proposal) you provide on your application will be verified against OSRC’s records; if the number or title you provide do not match these records, your application will be rejected outright. Submit the completed application, informed consent form, and debriefing materials as electronic attachments to an e-mail message addressed to Prof. Matthew McGlone. It is imperative that you submit these materials at least one week before you plan to begin recruiting participants.
2. Wait for Approval. You will receive notice of application approval/rejection shortly (2-3 days max) after submitting your materials. Under normal circumstances, you will be granted access to the pool if you submit the requested materials on time and the information you provided in your application is accurate. However, if multiple applications create a demand for participants that exceeds the supply, you may be asked to reduce the number of participants you requested or postpone your application until the following semester.
Recruiting Participants
There are no hard and fast rules for recruiting research participants. Perhaps the easiest recruiting method is to post a sign-up sheet on the CMS Participant Pool bulletin board between a7.110 and a7.112 (just down the hall from the department office). Make sure your sign-up sheet clearly indicates the time, location, and duration of your project sessions. Also please let the staff in the departmental office know about your search for participants. They receive phone calls and inquiries from students and can easily direct them if they have the specific information. Undergraduate students are referred to this website http://commstudies.utexas.edu/undergraduate/current/resources/index.htm to see current research/extra credit opportunities. Please send an email to cms@uts.cc.utexas.edu to have your study included on that website. Please include a brief description of your study, how much time it will take to complete and the details (where, when, how, etc.) You may also request that the study be sent to instructors who may want to participate. It’s also a good idea to inform the instructors of courses contributing to the pool when you’ve posted your sign-up sheets, so that they in turn might inform their students that an extra-credit opportunity is available. A sign-up sheet template is available as a word file or a PDF.
Issues to Consider When Conducting Your Project
It is inevitable that a certain percentage of students who sign up to participate in research projects will miss their appointments. Many legitimate emergencies may arise to cause participants to miss their times; others may be unable to find the location or otherwise become confused. As discussed above, researchers can help themselves by providing a memorable name for the project on their recruiting advertisements and ensuring that the time and locations are clearly indicated on sign-up sheets. If for any reason the researcher cannot appear at the scheduled time, he or she should notify participants (by e-mail or telephone) as soon as they are aware of the conflict. If participants are scheduled individually and no-shows are costly, it may be useful for experimenters to send additional reminders the evening before appointments.
Research procedures vary so much that it is not possible to give any exhaustive or definitive rules for interacting with participants. However, all researchers must provide prospective participants with a written statement regarding their right to refuse to participate or to terminate their participation in the study without penalty. Participants have volunteered their time to assist the researcher. They should be treated with respect and should not be put in a situation that might diminish their dignity. When in doubt about the consequences of a research procedure on a participant’s feelings, err on the side of the participant. Debriefing and discussion are significant parts of the educational experience for participants. A clear explanation of the research purposes and methods should be given and all questions answered.
Recording and Reporting Participation
Several CMS courses allow students to receive extra credit for participating in research. The amount of extra credit participants receive for their time commitment is determined by the instructor of the course for which the participant seeks to count the participation credit. Researchers are obligated to keep accurate records of the names of students who participated in their projects and the duration of their participation. They are also obligated to report this information in a timely fashion to these students’ instructors. Researchers are encouraged to use the CMS Participant Pool Class Participation Summary Form (word or PDF) for this purpose.
