Other SONA information
When you sign up, you will have the option of completing a pretest. This will be explained in more detail at the time.聽 The point of the pretest is to collect some information that will aid researchers in narrowing the scope of potential participants. For example, some studies are restricted to certain types or groups of people (e.g., females only) and there is no point in presenting such a study to all students.聽
If you elect to complete the pretest, you will be granted some credit.聽 The amount of credit depends on the length of the pretest which varies from year to year.聽
You are not required to complete the prestest -- it is optional. If you do not complete the pretest, there will still be lots of studies that you may participate in. Most studies are not restricted in any way.
You may postpone the completion of the pretest to a later time.聽 You do not need to complete it on the first occasion. Ideally, you should complete the pretest in a quiet private location.
Some studies have minor restrictions that are not listed in the pretest. These are considered minor because they only affect a few potential participants (e.g., no visual impairments). As such, there is no point in making them a part of the pretest (it is a balancing act).
Credit points are valid only for the current term. They do not carry over from term to term. They are cleared at the end of term. Do not plan to 鈥渟ave鈥� credit points for the next term.
Your course(s) will restrict the number of credit points that you can apply to the course. However, you may collect more points than you need, you may collect as many as you need, you may collect fewer than you need and you may collect none. The choice is yours.
Different studies offer different amounts of credit. The general 鈥渞ule of thumb鈥� is 1鈦�2 credit point per halfhour of participation. Online studies that can be completed in the comfort of home are usually limited to 1鈦�2 point.
The value of a credit point is set to be 鈥渁pproximately鈥� equivalent to the same amount of studying. That is, an hour of studying should net about 1 grade point. and a hour of participation should net about 1 grade point. Of course, there will be individual differences in this relationship, and participation can have some academic benefits.