Honors Thesis Research-Pool Acquisition Guidelines

1. Obtain IRB approval for your study: /irb/


2. Email researchCMC@gmail.com and request a “Researcher Account” for the SonaSystems website http://claremontmckenna.sona-systems.com/. Please allow one week for approval.
   Your email will include:
   1. Your Name as indicated on your approved IRB
   2. Name of the PI (the faculty advisor on the IRB) for your study
   3. IRB approval letter
   4. IRB Expiration Date (one year from Approval Date)
   5. Title of Experiment for SonaSystems
   6. Length of the experiment (in minutes)
   7. Room location if available (See also 3.b.)
   8. An electronic copy of your informed-consent form (Please save the name of your consent form as the title of your experiment for SonaSystems and separate each word with an underscore. Example: title_of_experiment.doc. Your consent form will be uploaded to: /psych/research_consent_forms.php.)
3. While awaiting approval for your researcher account:
   1. Review the materials for running experiments at: /psych/research.php
      • Participation Due Dates
      • Researcher Information for Using the Experiment Management System
      • Experiment Tracking Form for Researchers
   2. Reserve a room for conducting the experiment at: /facilities/room-requests/request-room.php


4. Once your “Researcher Account” is approved, you and your advisor (PI) can “Add a New Study” using his or her PI account on SonaSystems. You will be a researcher under your advisor.
   1. In the IRB Approval code entry box, type the last name of the study's PI.
   2. Make sure to select the option to have your study approved by the site administrator.
   3. Edit your "Study Information" page to include a link to your study's URL: Go to /psych/research_consent_forms.php, locate your consent form, click the link, and copy the URL. Paste this link as your "Study URL". If you are ready to collect data, make sure to select the option to activate your study.
   4. If you are not ready to collect data, please remember to activate your study when the time is appropriate. Please allow at least a week for the approval process.


5. After acquiring approval for your study, use your “Researcher Account” to “Add timeslots” at http://claremontmckenna.sona-systems.com/.
   1. Make sure that you enter AM/PM appropriately
   2. Indicate the number of participants who you will test per timeslot
   3. Select the room location or type this into the entry box
   4. Select yourself as a researcher if this was not established automatically
   5. If you are using SurveyMonkey.com for your study, please read /psych/Surveymonkey_with_SonaSystems.pdf


6. After testing participants, assign credits regularly. Credit can only be awarded to those students who have signed up online. You must assign all credits, penalties, or cancellations by 5:00 pm on the day that the research pool closes (/psych/Due_Dates.doc)

Please Note: A penalty should be awarded to participants who have missed the scheduled appointment. Participants who arrive too late for the experiment to take place during the designated time should be canceled and awarded neither a credit nor a penalty. Any participants acquired prior to your approval date should understand that participation was for voluntary purposes. Only those who have signed up for your experiment online can be awarded credit for participating. Please understand that using Sona-Systems will aid data collection, but will not guarantee collection of all data that you might need for your project. We strongly suggest using multiple data-collection methods (e.g., personal recruiting, Facebook or other social-networking sites, etc.).