Using SONA

In order to post studies on SONA you will need a researcher account. Only an administrator can create researcher accounts. As such you should email the Lab with your name and UNI and they will create a researcher account for you. With this account you will be able to create studies, post time slots, and manage all your studies.

With a researcher account you will be able to post studies and timeslots on SONA. Below is information regarding posting.

• IRB Code: No study can be posted on SONA without an IRB approval code and the protocol expiration date.
• Study Approval: Once you create a study it will have to be approved by the Lab Manager before is it visible to participants.
• Reservations and Timeslots: Timeslots for a study can only be posted after you have received email confirmation from the Lab Manager that your room request has been fulfilled.

SONA assigns all participants a random, anonymous 5- or 6-digit ID code. This ID code is the only way you will be able to identify any participant through SONA. You will not be able to get their names, UNIs or emails through SONA. Make sure to ask participants for their ID codes during your study.

When a researcher has finished running a study they will log onto SONA and mark attendance. Participants can be marked as having participated, as being an "excused" no-show, or an "unexcused" no-show. If a participant reaches two unexcused no-shows during the semester their account is automatically deactivated and they are no longer able to sign up for studies. All unexcused no-shows are forgiven at the beginning of each semester and deactivated accounts are reactivated.

Every participant must take the prescreen survey before they can sign up for studies. This is a 10-15 minute survey containing mostly demographic questions, along with a few psychological scales. Researchers have access to the prescreen responses of all participants who partake in their studies. Researchers can also set it so participants must have given certain answers in order to sign up for their study. The prescreen is also reset every summer, and questions are often added and taken out. If you would like to see any specific questions added, please contact the Lab. Below is a summary of the questions and scales included in the prescreen.

• Handedness
• Race
• Date of Birth
• Sex
• Political Orientation
• US Citizenship/Birth Country
• Years Lived in the US
• Primary Language, Reported Fluency
• Test of English Fluency
• Columbia Affiliation/Year in School
• Employment Status
• College Major
• Socioeconomic Status, of Parents and Self
• Heights/Weight
• Smoking Habit
• How They Heard of the Lab

Online surveys, such as ones administered through Qualtrics or Survey Monkey, can be conducted on SONA. These survey can easily be set up so that participants on SONA are automatically granted credit for participating in your study, and it prevents participants from taking a survey more than once. The most typical form of payment for online studies conducted on the Lab's SONA is emailed Amazon gift cards. Contact the Lab if you're interested in conducting online research through the Lab's SONA website.