Guidelines for running experiments

1. Well in advance of starting an experiment

1.1. RSRB

At least one month before running an experiment, the experimenter needs to check whether there is RSRB approval for the study they plan to conduct. In particular, is both the method and the language covered by valid RSRB approval? Will the approval still be valid throughout the entire expected duration of the study (which may take several months)? Will the experiment require [wiki:Self/HlpLab/ConsentForms consent forms] in a language that we do not yet have available (e.g. we have approval to run studies on Chinese, but only on Chinese speakers on campus, all of whom speak English, so we do NOT have a consent form in Chinese yet)?

1.2. EPRP

If you have not gotten an EPRP (Ethical Principals in Research Program) number, please go to the [http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/rsrb/belmont.htm EPRP website] and take the test to get one before you run any subjects and sign consent forms. It is mandatory that any faculty, grad students, post-docs, or staff who are on the protocol as investigators or co-investigators have one. It is a good idea even for the undergrads to get an EPRP number though, because you are required to have one if you ever run subjects for us, even though you most likely won't be on the protocol and consent forms.

EPRP numbers do expire every few years. Be sure to know when yours does, and take steps to get it renewed in time that your ability to run experiments is not interrupted.

2. Before you start designing stimuli

Create a wiki-page for your experiment. It should contain detailed information about the design, the type of stimuli, the methods you plan to use, the number of items you will need, how you plan to analyze the data, etc. Later you will also link specific annotation instructions. This page should only be readable to hlp lab members (see [wiki:WikiEditing how to restrict access to wiki pages]). If you do not know how to edit the wiki, meet with the lab manager to get instructions (it's easy).

3. While the experiment is running

3.1. Paying subjects

Money for paying subjects comes from Chris Dambra or Jennifer Gillis in the BCS office in Meliora 360. You can only get money or return payment forms from 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm Monday through Friday. Be sure to get the money before your subjects are scheduled.

Each subject must sign a payment form and provide their SSN and home address, which cannot be a P.O. Box or campus box. The SSN point also means that you can only run subjects that are authorized to work in the US. Make sure before you run them that they have an SSN. (This has been a problem in the past, with e.g. some Chinese subjects.) Payment forms are available from Andrew or Dana. Payment forms must be returned to Meliora 360, so the department can be reimbursed and we can keep getting money to pay subjects.

3.2. Consent forms

Anyone running experiments in the HLP/Jaeger lab paid for out of Florian's account must use a Cross-linguistic Studies on Human Communication consent form.

Only consent forms with an RSRB stamp are valid. Even if a copy is translated literally from an approved consent form, it is only valid to use that form if it itself has been approved and hence has an RSRB stamp on it. Also, the first page of the consent form must be on University of Rochester letterhead.

We currently have consent forms in English (for English, Japanese, and Mandarin subjects), Spanish, and Mayan, as well as an Amazon Mechanical Turk consent form (English only) online at [http://www.hlp.rochester.edu/consent/English_2009-05-13.pdf]

If you are on the protocol as a co-investigator, you can go to the [https://rsrb01.urmc.rochester.edu/ RSRB website], sign in and go to the Documents tab on the protocol to download the current approved consent form. These are not on letterhead, so you'll have to print them on letterhead if you download them yourself. Andrew will also keep master copies of the current consent forms in the lab, and will copy them for you if you let him know you are running a study.

Consent forms expire once a year after the Continuing Review, at which point we get new versions with the next year's stamp. Make sure that you have the current version of the consent form. The expiration date is on the RSRB stamp on the form. The Amazon Mechanical Turk consent forms are stored on the webserver with the expiration date in the filename, i.e Languagename-YYYY-MM-DD.pdf

Each time you run a subject, you are required to get a consent form for them, even if they have run in experiments in the past, or even another day of the same experiment. (i.e. If you have a 5 day experiment, you need 5 consent forms for each subject.) The RSRB also now requires that we give each subject a copy of the consent form. Previously they only required that we offer the subject a copy. You can give them an unsigned consent form; you don't have to photocopy the signed one. Most subjects don't actually want a copy of the consent form, so please stress that we are required to give it to them, but inform them that if they don't want it they can leave it on the table on their way out.

Completed consent forms should go in a folder with the name of your experiment written on the tab of the folder.

3.3. Subject sheets

Keep a sheet with information about subjects that run in your experiment. Write the date, the list number, the subject's name, which computer, and any relevant notes for each subject. For future reference, keep this list in the same folder as the consent forms.

4. After the experiment is completed

This means after all subjects have run, not after each subject...

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