UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

Student Information

Student Research Guidelines

Student Researcher Guidelines for Human Subjects

As a student researcher, there are certain policies and procedures that you must follow. There are also several forms that you must use, which can be downloaded from this site. The following guidelines have been developed to assist you in conducting your study proficiently. 

Student researchers may choose to offer research participants with extra credit for courses to incentavize participating in research studies.  In order to offer extra credit, students must track participants.  

Prior to Collecting Data

 

Face-to-Face and Online Studies First Steps

Step1: Obtain an IRB approval number from your instructor/research supervisor and complete your CITI Training for social and behavioral science researchers.

Step 2: Contact the Psychological Sciences Department Associate, Jody Sather, in the main office (151 CSH) and get a departmental study number. 

Step 3: Complete a Study Information Form.  When you fill out the form you'll need to have the following information: 

  • IRB approval number and departmental study number,
  • a brief description of your study,
  • a description that will be shown to participants,
  • number of desired participants,
  • a list of courses and instructors that have agreed to offer extra credit,
  • presentation opportunity (if known), and
  • a link to participate in the study (if available). This will be a Qualtrics link for online studies or a sign-up link for face-to-face participation.

Face-to-Face Studies Next Steps 

In addition to the steps above, student researchers conducting face-to-face studies will need to reserve a room to conduct their research and create a sign-up link.

Reserve a room for your study:

  • Determine the specific dates and times that you will be collecting data and how many participants you want to accommodate at each session.
  • Check room avialability with the Psychological Sciences Department Associate and reserve a room for these dates and times. Please do not attempt to reserve a room without consulting the main office.

Create a sign-up link for participants:

  • You can use any free online sign-up software. The department recommends using signup(dot)com.  
  • Make sure to collect the participants' names, emails, and extra credit course information (DEPT XXX-XX Course Name, Instructor).
  • Please note that a list of participants need to be submitted at the end of your study. It is recommended that you enter the names participants in a spreadsheet after each session.

Collecting Data

Student researchers will be responsible for collecting and organizing data.  Student researchers work with their research supervisor to make sure that their data collection methods are appropriate for thier research needs.  All participants must consent to participating in the research study.

If you are conducting a face-to-face session you may need to complete the Consent Form Cover Sheet and the Consent Reporting Form

  • Consent Form Cover Sheet: Make certain that the information on this cover sheet corresponds to the information appearing on your Study Information Form. The study name, number, course name, etc., should be the same. List on this sheet, any potential risks that are involved with this study, and make participants aware of participation guidelines.
  • Consent Reporting Form: Make as many copies as needed, then staple these copies to the back of the Consent Form Cover Sheet.

Notably, in some studies, individual consent forms are used instead of the Consent Reporting Form. For purposes of awarding extra credit, student researchers must still keep track of participants. Please discuss the method that you will use to document participation in your study, with your research supervisor.

Remember to collect participation information and enter it into a spreadsheet after each session.

After Collecting Data

Once data collection is completed, student researchers should notify the Psyhological Sciences Department Associate that the study is complete and provide the total number of participants. Submit the Student Research Completion Form once you are ready to start analyzing your data.  If participants are able to receive extra credit for participating in your study continue with the steps below. 

Extra Credit

After your study is complete, compile a list of all participants in your study using your sign-up information from your sessions in a spreadsheet.  Ideally, you have been entering the participants in a spreadsheet after each session. 

You'll need to include the following fields in your spreadsheet:

  • Column 1: Participant Last Name 
  • Column 2: Particpant First Name
  • Column 3: Participant Email (freddy.falcon@my.uwrf.edu)
  • Column 4: Course Information for Extra Credit (DEPT XXX-XX Course Name, Instructor)
  • Column 5: Your Study Name

Once you have compeleted the participant spreadsheet email the document as an attachment to the Psychological Sciences Department Associate.

Thank you for investing time in student research!  

Online Studies Next Steps

In addition to the steps above, you'll need to create a a survey in Qualtrics. If you haven't already done so, you'll need to create a Qualtrics account.  You can find the steps for creating a Qualtrics account here.  Once you've created your survey send your survey link to the Psychological Sciences Department Associate so that they can create a sign-up sheet for your online participants. The Psychological Sciences Department Associate will create a sign-up sheet in Qualtrics for participants and share the survey with you.

Online studies may include the consent form on the first page of the survey.  Work with your research supervisor to create the consent form and integrate it into your Qualtrics survey.

Here is a sample of the Consent Form Cover Sheet.

  • Consent Form Cover Sheet: Make certain that the information on this cover sheet corresponds to the information appearing on your Study Information Form. The study name, number, course name, etc., should be the same. List on this sheet, any potential risks that are involved with this study, and make participants aware of participation guidelines.

Notably, in some studies, individual consent forms are used instead of the Consent Reporting Form. For purposes of awarding extra credit, student researchers must still keep track of participants. Please discuss the method that you will use to document participation in your study, with your research supervisor.

Collecting Data

Student researchers will be responsible for collecting and organizing data.  Student researchers work with their research supervisor to make sure that their data collection methods are appropriate for thier research needs.

After Collecting Data

Once data collection is completed, student researchers should notify the Psyhological Sciences Department Associate that the study is complete and provide the total number of participants. If participants are able to receive extra credit for participating in your study continue with the steps below. 

Extra Credit 

Download the participant information from the sign-up survey if it was shared with you from the Psychological Sciences Department Associate. To download your sign-up information please refer to this document. Once you've downloaded your participant information from Qualtrics remove the extra fields and leave only the fields listed below.  Advanced Methods students do not need to download the sign-up sheet.

Required Fields in bold:

  • Column 1: Participant Last Name 
  • Column 2: Particpant First Name
  • Column 3: Participant Email (freddy.falcon@my.uwrf.edu)
  • Column 4: Course Information for Extra Credit (DEPT XXX-XX Course Name, Instructor)
  • Column 5: Your Study Name

If you are having difficulties please contact the main psychological sciences office in 151 Centennial Science Hall. Once you have compeleted the participant spreadsheet email the document as an attachment to the Psychological Sciences Department Associate.

Thank you for investing time in student research!