These are the guidelines for faculty and graduate students interested in using the Advertising Participant Pool. Please note that graduate students need a faculty sponsor in order to use the pool. Also note that although we will attempt to accommodate all student requests, we will prioritize dissertations, theses and conference papers over coursework-related projects. Studies will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis.
1. Before you do anything else, obtain approval from the UT Institutional Review Board (IRB) for use of human subjects. This approval is required and more information can be found at http://www.utexas.edu/research/rsc/humansubjects/.
Note that most studies can be filed under EXEMPT or EXPEDITED Application status. But current IRB approval times are running upwards of 5 weeks, so plan accordingly. Please make sure your IRB application includes a request to gather student names and EIDs. This information is needed to track student participation in the pool. Your in-department IRB representative is Dr. Michael Mackert. When you initially submit your study, it will first be forwarded to him; once he approves it, he will forward it to the IRB administrators.
Also see the "When Planning your Study" section below.
2. After you have IRB approval, complete the Participant Pool Application. You will need to print the form, sign it manually, scan it and send it as a PDF - accompanied by a PDF of the IRB approval letter - to the Participant Pool Administrator, Dr. Jeeyun Oh at jeeyunoh@utexas.edu. At this time, we cannot accept digital signatures - we need a PDF of the manually signed form. We will not accept hard copies, only electronic copies. Note: If you are a student researcher, you are required to have a resident faculty sponsor for the study. He/she must sign the application form and be copied (CC'd) when you email the application to Dr. Oh.
3. After submitting the application to us, it is the responsibility of the researcher(s) to (a) email the participant pool assistant a preview link of your survey so that we can make sure if it looks professional, and (b) add the participant pool assistant as a collaborator in your Qualtrics survey only after their survey passed the assistant's examination so that a termination option can be embeded in your survey (basically channelling everyone to our centralized survey). It is also your responsibility to offer students directions on how to obtain a receipt for participation. This is of the utmost importance as poor record keeping and delayed sharing of this information is the number one reason why some faculty do not require research participation and thus support the pool. These records are due to the professors one week before the last day of classes.
4. Each individual study posted on the pool must have a line in its consent form that informs students of their right to request an alternative assignment that is equivalent in time and effort and can count as a substitute for participation in your study. It is the responsibility of the researcher to provide such an option; this option is required by IRB and was most likely already addressed in your IRB approval process.
5. Once approved, each study will be assigned a unique Project ID# and a start date. For in-person studies, once a start date is assigned, the appropriate facilities need to be scheduled in advance.
6. Prepare a study description and supporting participation information for posting to the pool Website. This information should include the following:
- Project ID # and Descriptive Title
- Time(s), Date(s), and Location(s) or URL for Web-based Research
- Duration of study Session(s) or Approximate Study Completion Times for Web-based Research
- Your email address to be published on the Advertising Participant Pool Website (for participants to contact you on case of unforeseen circumstances affecting their participation or a credit discrepancy, etc.)
NOTE:These supporting materials should be sent to the Pool Administrator and Assistant via email at least one week prior to your scheduled start date so that it can be posted to the Advertising Participation Pool Website and course instructors can be notified. It is the researcher's responsibility to monitor recruitment for a given study.
7. Your study description will be posted to the Advertising Participant Pool Website. There, students in participating classes can sign up for or link to your study. If you have any questions concerning your study posting, please email the Pool Assistant.
8. You are responsible for monitoring the number of participants and updating the Pool Administrator on a continuous basis until the approved number of subjects is satisfied. Once the allocated responses are collected, your study will be terminated and the study posting will be taken down from the Pool website.
9. The advertising participant pool will record participant information by linking your survey to a centralized survey. Participant information includes student name, UT EID and courses for which they are seeking credit. We will update records each Friday (which we post on a Google Doc so students can track their progress) and then at the end of the semester. However, it is your responsibility to remind students to obtain a receipt for participation at the end of your survey. These records are due to the professors two weeks prior to the start of the final exam period.
1. A 30-minute time limit is suggested in order to maintain equity for students participating in the studies. If your study requires substantially more time, an extra incentive is recommended to attract student participation (e.g., Bevo Bucks, lottery ticket, gift certificate). You can also ask the pool administrator for permission to offer double credit to students.
2. You must follow IRB guidelines for informed consent. For most pool studies, participants MUST read and sign or otherwise acknowledge an Informed Consent Form prior to completing the study. These records must be retained by the researcher according to IRB guidelines.
3. Participants may only receive ONE credit for any study, and they can only request that credit for ONE participating class.
If participants do not show up for your study session for which they signed up, you must assign a ONE CREDIT PENALTY. If they cancel their appointment 24 hours before the study session time via email, no penalty should be given. Please share with the professors the names of no shows in an electronic format (e.g., Excel).
1. You must offer the student an alternative means through which he/she may earn the participation credit. If, during your study, a student participant expresses a wish not to participate in your research, please:
- Record the student's name, email address, and class on a separate sheet of paper.
- Send this information by email to Dr. Oh the Pool Administrator.
2. To allow participating faculty to provide students with pre-final grades, access to the participant pool will not operate during the last two weeks of classes.