Note that you are required to use Southern New Hampshire University students as research participants by using the PSY 510/520 Lounge in SNHUConnect (link is located in the left-hand navigation menu). You are strictly prohibited from using individuals outside of Southern New Hampshire University as research participants.
There are two distinct tasks for this assignment.
1. You will use the Qualtrics software to program the research materials (i.e., surveys) https://snhu.qualtrics.com/ that you will give to participants. It is important to program your materials exactly how you want students to see them.
Be sure to incorporate the feedback that you received on your materials from your instructor on Milestone Two. Refer to the Qualtrics website and the instructional video for assistance. Please make sure to check the option to “Anonymize Responses” under Survey Options when creating your survey.
2. Compose an introductory message to your study participants, which you will use in the Collect Data From Participants task in Module Four. Use the following guidelines to compose your message:
ï‚· Include a greeting and an introduction.
ï‚· Write a brief description of the survey to include:
“The survey is very brief and will only take about X minutes to complete. Please click this link [add URL] to go to the survey website, or copy and paste the link into your internet browser.�
ï‚· Confidential and voluntary information required to be included prominently when students see surveys:
“Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary. You may refuse to take part in the research or exit the survey at any time without penalty. You are free to decline to answer any particular question you do not wish to answer for any reason. All of your responses will be kept confidential. No one will be able to identify you or your answers, and no one will know whether or not you participated in the study.�
ï‚· Include a motivational message encouraging participation:
“As a university student, you are part of an organization with a mission to create and increase knowledge. Research is the best strategy for obtaining complete, unbiased answers to all sorts of important questions. You are also likely to have many opportunities in your life after SNHU to participate in research or to make decisions about research participation for your family members. Therefore, we hope that you will take advantage of participation in university research to contribute to new knowledge and gain some basic understanding of how research is done.�
ï‚· Reducing the Potential for Students to Experience Coercion
In the rare instances in which recruiting from one’s own class is permissible, researchers are expected to minimize the potential for students to feel pressured to participate. There are various strategies for minimizing the potential pressure to participate. One way that researchers have reduced the potential for perceived coercion is to design the study so that the instructor is blind to the identity of the participants (at least until after the grades have been assigned). For example, a research collaborator can run the study and keep any identifying information from the instructor. If a researcher designs a study in this way, two points are crucial:
 BEFORE being asked to participate, potential subjects should be informed that the instructor will not know who did and who did not participate (at least until after final grades have been assigned).
 The research should be designed so that the instructor cannot infer who participated through indirect means (e.g., by seeing who walks into a laboratory, by getting a list of who earned credit for participating in the study).
Research material is attached below.