Sona Subject Pool

Please view the Subject Pool instructions and frequently asked questions (FAQs) for participants and researchers by reviewing the information on this page.

• Open SONA instructions (PDF file)
• Open the Application for Researchers

To earn Sona credits, click on a participant pool:

• Psychology Subject Pool (main pool)
  General Pool (for students enrolled in Psych courses that are not PSY285)
• Psychology 285/385 Pool
  Research Methods Pool (for students enrolled in PSY285)​​​​
  

Researcher instructions

Rules for using the subject pool

1. In order to access the Subject Pool, the researcher must email PSY Pool for a Subject Pool Application for each study.  For the first study request, the researcher will receive a researcher ID and password. ***Note: If there are multiple researchers for one study, please note this on your Subject Pool Application.  Also, only one application is needed for studies that have multiple researchers.
2. For subsequent requests the researcher must provide their researcher ID on the Subject Pool Application.
3. Researchers may not post a study more than two weeks before they intend to start collecting data. Therefore if your first timeslot is January 15th, you cannot put your study on the website until January 1st.
4. Researchers must give credit to a participant within 24 hours of collecting data.  If credit is not granted within 24 hours, the system will automatically grant credit to these participants (even if they did not show up).  Researchers who do not give participants credit within 24 hours may lose their privilege of using the Subject Pool.
5. If a researcher must cancel a session of his/her study, he or she must notify the participants and the Subject Pool coordinator 36 hours prior to its scheduled time. If a researcher fails show for a study and does not notify the participants and Subject Pool coordinator, he or she may lose his/her privilege of using the Subject Pool.  If the researcher fails to show up for or cancels a study, he or she must give credit to the participants that were scheduled.
6. PSY 385 researchers may NOT recruit participants from PSY 100 classes.
7. You must give a copy of the consent form to the participant.  This copy must be signed by the researcher and is considered a receipt for the participant.  The consent form must include the study title and researcher contact information (i.e. email address).
8. If the student is not signed up for your study through the Subject Pool, you MUST get their login ID in order to grant them credit.  Please email PSY Pool for more information on how to grant credit to students not signed up through the website.
9. Participants should receive one credit for every half hour of participation.  Therefore if a study is 30 minutes or any amount of time under 30 minutes (1, 15, 20, 25 minutes, etc.), the participant should receive 1 credit, if the study is to be between 30 minutes and 60 minutes (31, 45, 55 minutes, etc.), the participant should receive 2 credits, and so forth.
10. Once you have completed recruitment of participants, please make your study inactive and email PSY Pool so that the study can be removed from the system.

Setting up a study

Once you have turned in a completed application, your study will be listed on the system. You will need to log in using your researcher ID. Upon access to the Subject Pool, a Human Subjects/Privacy Policy will be prompted. Please read through the policy.

After reading the policy, you will be able to access your study by clicking on "My Studies." Click on the title of your study and there will be a short summary of the study information. At the bottom of the page you will see three options. If you click "Change Study Information," you will see the screen that is shown on the next page. You can then add the information pertaining to your study. Make sure that the "yes" button is checked for both the active and visible selections and then click "Save Changes."

Note: If there are multiple researchers for a study, this must be noted on your Subject Pool Application.

Participant instructions

You must check your cmich email account for your login name and password. If you have not received this email, please go to the website and click under “Lost your password?.” Next, enter your cmich email address and your login information will be immediately sent to you. Please remember it will take at least one week from the start of the semester to have the user information sent to you.

***If you have used the Sona-Systems website in a previous semester, check your cmich email address for a NEW PASSWORD for the semester.*** 

If you are having trouble logging into the system, make sure that your login name is in lowercase letters and your password is accurate. If when you try to log in you receive an error message saying “authentication expired”, your computer needs to have cookies enabled for the web browser. The system will not run properly without cookies enabled. If you don’t know how to enable cookies, you can call the help desk at #3662, and they will talk you through the procedure. You may change your password by clicking on the “My Profile” link. You may also change your email address if you would like any notices sent to an address that you check more often than your cmich account.

When in the “My Profile” section, please make sure that you are registered for all of your courses and that the course reference numbers are correct. If you have any problems with the courses you are registered for or if you added or dropped a course after the first week of classes please email PSY Pool.

Signing up to participate in a study

To sign up to participate in a study, find a study you would like to participate in by clicking on the “Studies” link or “Study Sign-Up” section in the middle of the page. This will take you to a list of studies. Click on a study of your choosing for more information. You will be able to see any restrictions or eligibility requirements, as well as who to contact if you have questions about the study. If you meet all of the qualifications for the study, click on “View Timeslots for This Study” to be able to see a list of the available timeslots. Once you find a time that is convenient for you, click the “Sign Up” button. You will receive a reminder email confirming the time and location.  

Canceling a sign-up

If you need to cancel a timeslot, you can view the studies you are scheduled to participate in by clicking on “My Schedule and Credits”. You will see a list of all the studies you have signed up for, as well as the ones you have completed. You have up until 36 hours before the study start time to cancel participation. Those studies that do not exceed the cancellation time limit will have a “Cancel” button next to them. Once you click “Cancel” for a study, you will see a confirmation page. In order to cancel participation in a study you must click “yes”. After canceling, recheck your schedule by clicking “My Schedule and Credits” to make sure that you are no longer scheduled for the study. If the time limit for cancellation has passed, you may email the researcher directly. A researcher’s email address is located in the study’s information section and is also located in the reminder email you received. DO NOT EMAIL PSY Pool TO CANCEL PARTICIPATION IN A STUDY.

Assigning credits

After you have participated in a study you will be asked what course you would like to assign the earned credit to, if you are enrolled in multiple courses. If you decide later that you would like to reassign your credits, you may do so by clicking on “My Schedule and Credits.” If you do not receive credit for studies you have participated in within 48 hours of the study time, please contact the researcher. If you do not receive a response from the researcher or your credit is still not granted, email psypool@cmich.edu. You may earn 1 credit for every half hour spent participating in a study.

Please also review the Participant FAQs above. If any you have questions regarding the Subject Pool email PSY Pool.