Welcome to the world of psychological research! There are several different paths you can take with research, but we all have to start somewhere. This page will serve as your guide into this world and will hopefully answer most of the questions and concerns you have. However, if you ever have questions that are not answered in this page, please contact one of the lab boffins, come by the lab in EDU 309, or E-mail experimentrak@uco.edu.
Follow each step carefully-
1. Read the Cognitive lab manual carefully, it will explain everything you need to know about the lab.
2. Take the lab quiz to get access to the lab (you have to score a 100%, so keep taking it until you get 100%)
3. After you get access to the lab, the next step is to get approval to work with human participants. To do that, you need CITI certification. It is a lengthy process but necessary if you want to do any research of your own or help anybody with theirs. IT IS MANDATORY. It will take awhile to complete, but once you do, email your certificate to the lab and keep a copy for yourself.
4. If you are joining the cognitive lab, you will need to apply for the position on the UCO job boards.
You will need a copy of your transcript, your CV, and a STLR snapshot (blank if you have no STLR credit).
5. Once you are approved for the position you will have to complete a background check and pre-employment paperwork that will be emailed to you from HR. It is likely you will also have to go up to the HR office and fill out some extra paperwork.
6. Paycom is used for all of our financial services on campus now and can be quite confusing especially if you are hired onto a grant-funded position. When you are officially a employee you will receive an employee tab on UConnect. On the right-hand side of that tab you should see a tab that says “Time Management after April 14, 2019”; that link will bring you to the Paycom website where you will fill out your information. Any questions about Paycom can be directed to the FAQs or the Lab Boffins.
7. Next, you need to make sure you have a SONA researcher account and a Sagenda account. You can sign up for a participant account in SONA (Most already have one from General Psych class) and then you have to request a researcher account from the admins in the cognitive lab. Sagenda is used for checking out equipment or reserving experiment rooms.
8. Once you have your lab quiz, CITI certificate, and researcher accounts, you can start looking into research opportunities. The most important step in this process is finding a faculty member that is willing to supervise you. There are several psychology professors that do research but they differ in their specialties, so make sure you find a mentor that is interested in the same things you are.
9. After you find a mentor, they will either put you on one of their projects, or tell you to come up with a project of your own and find funding for it. UCO has several avenues for research funding, you just have to read up on them and apply.
RCSA Grant is One of Several You May Try
10. Once you have applied for a research grant, you should start piecing together your IRB. You won’t be able to start conducting research until your IRB proposal is approved, so start early. You will need several pieces of information and you will want to ask your supervisor or a mentor to help you the first time.
11. Come to the lab and get to know our staff. We are always willing to help and we can be very knowledgeable. Research is a team sport, don’t feel like you have to do it all by yourself.