Research Participation Programme

Research Participant Programme Participant Researcher Resources Forms SONA Contact

Research Participant Programme

RP Programme

Research participation (RP) is a module requirement for PL1101E, PL2131 and PLB1201. RP applies to all students taking these modules, from any faculty, and including exchange students and other non-graduating students. The requirement can be fulfilled by participating in the RP programme (recommended), or by observer participation with written reports.

The RP Programme is an essential component of the Psychology Programme at the Department of Psychology at NUS. The Programme provides undergraduate students an opportunity to participate in and therefore observe current research, giving them a better understanding of the methods used in psychological research, as well as gain insight into the role of the researcher. Here in Psychology in NUS, we strongly encourage active participation in current research, and consider RP an essential component of the Psychology Programme. Undergraduate students reading PL1101E, PL2131 and PLB1201 at the Department of Psychology are given the opportunity required to be either a participant in research or an observer of these studies, which are being carried out at the Department.

All new research participants will receive their password by Week 2 of the Semester.

AY 2023/24 Schedule:

	Starts	Ends
Semester 1	14 August 2023	17 November 2023
Semester 2	15 January 2024	19 April 2024

Overview

Undergraduate students reading either PL1101E, PL2131 or PLB1201 at the Department of Psychology NUS, are given the opportunity to be either a participant in current research or an observer of these studies, which are being carried out at the Department.

Undergraduate Research Participation

As an NUS student, you can fulfil your research participation requirement by EITHER:

(1) opting into the RP Programme, where you act as a participant in staff and student research projects. You will be required to accumulate 12 RP points per module (i.e., PL1101E, PL2131) or 6 RP points (GEK1064). All research is reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board before any data collection begins. (Details on the Participant tab.);

(2) opting out of the RP Programme. To do so, you would have to notify the RP coordinator via email by Friday February 23rd, 2024. The RP coordinator will arrange for you to act as an observer for TWO studies. You will be required to write up a report on each study. (Details on the Participant tab.)

Parental Consent

There will be some studies that will require parental consent before participation. Accordingly, the researcher’s in-charge will require you to complete a parental consent form before participation.

How do I sign up for a study?

As a research participant, you can view and sign up for studies online by logging in using your NUS UserID and password at SONA. (Click here for details.)

Participant

Information for Participants

This section is aimed to provide general information for undergraduate students participating in the RP Programme. Note that all research is reviewed and approved by the IRB/DERC before any data collection begins.

RP Programme Requirements

If you are reading either PL1101E, PL2131 or PLB1201, you will be invited to participate in the Research Participant (RP) Programme.

As a research participant you will need to accumulate 12 RP points (6 hours of research participation) per module. Therefore, if you are reading PL1101E and PL2131 in the same semester, you will need to accumulate 24 points (12 hours of research participation) altogether. For PLB1201 research participants you will need to accumulate 6 RP points (3 hours of research participation).

For every 30 - 35 minutes of participation, 1 RP point will be awarded to you. For studies completed within 30 minutes, the point is still awarded in full.

Opting out of the RP Programme

You can choose to opt out of the RP Programme. To do so, you will need to email the RP coordinator by Friday February 23rd, 2023.

If you choose to opt out of the RP Programme, you will need to observe TWO studies and write a report about the logistics, design, and procedure used in each of the two studies you observe.

The reports will be marked solely on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis; the outcome of each report does not affect your module grade. Each report is limited to 2,000 words and should be written in APA format.

Getting started and signing up for studies

You will be sent an introductory email about the RP programme from the RP coordinator by Week 1 of the semester. You will also receive a second email of your SONA login username and password. This applies to all returning participants to the RP programme as well. If you do not receive the 2 email notifications kindly contact your RP coordinator by email. Instructions for SONA are available here in PDF.

Once you have received your SONA login details, you can sign up for approved studies online at SONA.

List of approved studies

A regularly updated list of approved studies are available online at SONA. RP points are awarded for participation in only these approved studies.

Withdrawing from a study

Before the start of a study, the researcher will ask you to read a Participant Information Sheet (PIS) and sign a consent form.

As explained in the PIS, you as a participant can withdraw at any point during the study without giving any reasons. You will not be penalized for withdrawing from the study. You will receive the appropriate RP points you have accumulated up to that point in the study.

In other words, if you sign up for a 2 hour study, but withdraw from the study after 1 hour, you would be awarded RP points equivalent to the 1-hour participation you completed: you would be awarded 2 RP points (other participants who complete the full 2 hours would receive 4 RP points).

Failing to show up for a study (No Show)

If you do not turn up for a study you signed up for, you would need to inform the researcher of the reason for your absence (medical certificate, FASS-approved Leave of Absence) within 48 hours of the timeslot you signed up for. Beyond this grace period, you will be awarded a "NO SHOW".

Being awarded "NO SHOW" twice will disqualify you for any further participation in the RP Programme. If you do not fulfil the RP point requirement, marks will be deducted from your final module grade in a pro-rated manner: 0.5 marks for every research participation point not fulfilled.

Fulfilling RP requirements

The RP requirement for each module (i.e., PL110E, PL2131) is 12 RP points (6 hours of research participation) and (PLB1201) 6 RP points. If you choose to opt into the RP Programme, you will need to fulfil the RP point requirement for each module you read (i.e., PL1101E, PL2131, PLB1201), except under special circumstances.

If you do not fulfil the RP point requirement, marks will be deducted from your final module grade in a pro-rated manner: 0.5 marks for every research participation point not fulfilled.

For example, if you accumulate only 10 of the required 12 points, 1 mark will be deducted from your final module grade because you are short of 2 points.

Researcher

Information for Researchers

This section is aimed to provide general information for project students and research staff who are conducting psychological research which aims to recruit undergraduate students participating in the RP Programme as participants for their studies.

Ethics Review

All research has to be reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) or the Departmental Ethics Review Committee (DERC) for the Department of Psychology, NUS, before any data collection takes place.

Allocation of RP points

If you are a researcher conducting a study, you will need to apply for the number of RP points you require for your study: Base the number you request on the number of participants you propose to recruit.

Researcher Status	Maximum number of RP points per semester	Maximum number of RP points across both semesters
PL3231 and PL4660 students	120	Not applicable
PL4401 students	200	260
Graduate students	220	300
Staff	240	320

Requests for an unreasonably large number of points can be rejected by the RP Coordinator. RP-point allocation depends on your status as a researcher as summarised in the figure.

The number of RP points available each semester is limited. If an RP request exceeds these limits, a justification for the sample size requested is necessary (compelling evidence that the research question can be answered only with the sample requested, etc), ensuring an equitable allocation of RP points to researchers.

Requesting RP points

Submit soft copies of your RP applications to the RP Coordinator psyks@nus.edu.sg (note attachment labels). Label attachments as follows:
1. Requisition Form (attached requisition form, researcher & supervisor's electronic signature or copied in the email)
2. DERC (email approval) OR IRB; (IRB approval scanned & attached)
3. PIS (note, reimbursement should capture RP points)
4. Debrief (brief explanation of planned debrief to RP participant)
Requisition Forms are reviewed every Tuesday during the semester. Note that incomplete requests (not attaching IRB/DERC documentation or the PIS) will delay the approval process.
The RP Coordinator will contact the researcher for a short briefing about SONA and the use of the Participant Consent Roster.
Once the study is approved, an email will be sent to the researchers in-charge to proceed to add their study and advertise participant timeslots on SONA.
Researchers are responsible for ensuring that participants read the PIS, sign the consent roster after being briefed about the study, and for debriefing participants at the end of the study.
Researchers are not allowed to award RP points to more participants than what has been approved in the RP Requisition Form. Only the specified number of approved participants should be awarded RP points.
Once data from the required number of participants has been collected, submit softcopy consent roster within one week of the last data collection session for the study.
All RP requests are considered on a first-come-first-served basis. Note: that RP participants receive their SONA login details after PL1101E, PL2131 and PLB1201 Lecture 1 each semester, and that early submission of RP Requisition Forms ensures optimal allocation of RP points to researchers each semester.

Awarding RP points

Undergraduates who participate in the RP Programme, who fail to turn up for studies, are to be given a grace period of TWO days to either arrange an alternative timeslot or provide a reasonable explanation for their absence. If students show up for the alternative timeslot as arranged, they are to be awarded their RP points.

Where there are difficulties in arranging alternative timeslots for students with an explanation within the grace period, researchers should not penalize these students. Instead, researchers should manually "CANCEL" these students on Sona, as long as students have valid reasons (medical, FASS-approved Leave of Absence) which are given within the grace period. You are required to inform these students of your decision to cancel them from your study before deleting their timeslots.

Beyond the grace period, researchers can award a "NO SHOW" to undergraduate students who have not shown up for a study and have not given an explanation. Researchers are encouraged to check with the RP Coordinator before awarding a "NO SHOW" to participants in such situations.

Researchers' responsibilities

Researchers are reminded to exercise caution when advertising their studies on SONA: They should open timeslots which they can be present for and for which the appropriate lab(s) is available.

Reports on absent researchers are followed up. Ramifications of being absent for a timeslot can include a forfeit of access to participants in the RP Programme.

Researchers are responsible for reading the Rules and Regulations governing room and equipment booking before making any arrangements.

Loan of Rooms and Equipment

Student and staff researchers can borrow Computer Labs and Cubicles for research purposes.
https://fass.nus.edu.sg/psy/departmental-resources/

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