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Psychology

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(209) 667-3386
sfoster4@csustan.edu

Bizzini Hall, B231

College of Science

SONA Information for Research Seminar Students

The online participant management system, SONA, is a convenient way for researchers in the Department of Psychology and Child Development to recruit participants and maintain a record of all participants and their earned credits. Visit the SONA participant page for information regarding participating in studies via SONA.

Setting up Studies on SONA:

Step 1: Set up a SONA Researcher Account

If you do not already have a SONA researcher account, you will need one before you can collect data using SONA. Your research seminar instructor can create a SONA researcher account for you. If you already have a SONA participant account, your research seminar instructor can simply add the researcher role to your existing participant account.

Step 2: Post your study on SONA. Your research seminar instructor is responsible for helping you with this task.

To set up your basic SONA study page you will need:

  1. A name for your study, which will be shown to prospective participants.
  2. A brief description of your study (remember not to give away your hypothesis!)
  3. A list of eligibility requirements. All studies must have "Participants must be at least 18 years of age" as an eligibility requirement. Any additional eligibility requirements must also be listed.
  4. How long the study will last. The minimum time listed must be 30 minutes.
  5. The study's IRB approval number and expiration date are needed before the study can be activated.
  6. If your study is hosted on Qualtrics or some other online data collection site, you will need the URL for your study. Make sure that your instructor approves your study on Qualtrics before you activate it.
  7. In order to keep track of participants' credits, you will need to set up ONE appointment (timeslot). We suggest you choose a date near the end of the semester (but not after the final date for participation in the semester) with 100-200 available slots.

Step 3: Let your instructor know when your study is fully set up so they can approve it and activate it for you.

You will not be able to collect data until your study is activated on SONA. Once it is activated, your study will appear in the list of available studies on SONA and participants will be able to sign up.

Step 4: Assign credit to your participants.

Be sure to assign credits to participants in a timely manner. Please do not wait until the end of the semester. Participants must have time to assign their credits to their courses, or they will not get the extra-credit they earned (and you will get angry emails from your participants).

SONA dates for the Fall 2025 semester:

  • Last day to participate in studies: Dec. 1
  • Last day for researchers to grant earned credits to participants: Dec. 3
  • Last day to assign earned credits to classes: Dec. 5

Additional information:

Updated: August 18, 2025