Skip to Main Content

Psychology College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies

Support Page Content

Guidelines for PSYC 102 Class Projects and Student Research

Students in the Sacramento State Psychology Department who conduct class projects for PSYC 102 or human subjects research must have their proposed methods reviewed and approved prior to recruiting participants and collecting data. PSYC 102 class projects are reviewed and approved by Psychology Department Research Review Committee. Student research conducted by graduate students (e.g., for theses, PSYC 294, 297, etc.) or undergraduate students (e.g., for PSYC 194, 197, etc.) must be approved by University IRB. Follow the instructions below for PSYC 102 class projects and student research.

Class Projects for PSYC 102

  1. Review the Researcher Conduct Guidelines.
  2. Use these templates to create a Consent Form and Debriefing Form.
  3. Have your instructor review and approve your project.
  4. Assemble all your research materials.
    • Including all tests, surveys, vignettes, images, etc. that will be used in your study
    • For photos provide the source of the photo if in the public domain; if not in the public domain have individuals in the photos sign a waiver to have their images used for your research.
    • For videos, provide a URL where we can view them; if this is not possible then arrange to have a CD or DVD delivered to the Dr. J.J. Qin, the Psychology Department Human Subjects Chair.
  5. Submit your materials to the Submission Portal.
  6. Wait. The Human Subjects Chair will email you to let you know whether your project is approved or needs to be revised. The review process may take up to 10 days.
  7. Register your class project in the Psychology Research website if you are using the subject pool. Use the title, description, and other project information EXACTLY as submitted in your approved application. Any changes will need to be approved first!
  8. Schedule and run sessions. Contact the Psychology Research administrator at stk28@csus.edu if you have any problems registering to the site.
  9. Assign credits to participants promptly after each session.
  10. Deactivate the project in the Psychology Research Website when no more sessions will be run.
  11. If you are not using the subject pool, you can begin recruiting participants once your proposal has been approved. Follow the procedures approved in your application.

Student Research

Student researchers who conduct research projects that collect data from human participants must have their proposed methods reviewed and approved by Univeristy IRB before recruiting participants and beginning their projects.

Students planning on recruiting human participants from the Psychology Department's human participant pool should follow the steps below.

  1. Complete the CITI training module; Human Subjects Research: Undergraduate and Masters Students
  2. Submit your research proposal for review to the University's IRB.
  3. Register your class project in the Psychology Research Participant website if you plan on using the Psychology Department's human participant pool. Use the title, description, and other project information EXACTLY as shown in your approved application. Any changes will need to be approved first!
  4. After your research is approved by University IRB, complete this brief form to request participants from the subject pool.
  5. Contact the research website administrator at stk28@csus.eduif you have any problems registering to the site.
  6. Schedule and run sessions.
  7. Assign credit to participants promptly after each session.
  8. Deactivate your project in the Psychology Research website when no more sessions will be run.

Please note that researchers may not be allocated the total number of requested participants in a single semester. Researchers requesting large samples may need to collect data over several semesters.

Helpful Resources