Information for PIPER Research Participants

PIPER Requirements are:
Students are required to earn 10 research participation credits (PSY 101, 121, and 299 students), or to complete the Alternative Assignment (see below). 

10 PIPER credits for all students enrolled in PSY101 – Introductory Psychology

10 PIPER credits for all students enrolled in PSY121 – Methods and Tools

10 PIPER credits for all students enrolled in PSY 299 – Research Seminar

Are you enrolled in two of these courses during the same semester? If so, email the PIPER coordinator and let him/her know. The policy is that you only need to complete the requirement for one course in this special, rare situation.

You must be 18 to participate: All research studies at the College require that participants give informed consent, and you must be at least 18 years of age in order to give legal consent.  If you are under 18 years of age on October 15th (Fall semester) or March 15th (Spring semester), please make an appointment with the PIPER coordinator (piper@tcnj.edu) to discuss your options. Your course instructor may decide to give an alternative assignment.

If you are participating for extra credit, you will not have access to the PIPER system until the middle of the semester (you will not be able to see any experiments).

Penalty for failure to complete the requirement:
If a student does not earn the required number of PIPER credits or complete the Alternate Assignment during the semester, then the penalty is one-third of a letter grade deduction from the student's final course grade (e.g., a B+ grade becomes a B). NO incompletes will be offered for failure to complete the PIPER requirement.

How are PIPER credits earned (PIPER Rules)?

1. Go to the PIPER online registration website (see main page for a link) to find and sign up for research studies.

2. Sign into PIPER using your UNIX account name and password (same as your email).

3. Follow the links to browse available experiments.  Be certain to view the eligibility criteria because NO credit will be given participants who do not meet the eligibility criteria.

4. Click on the appropriate button to sign up for studies on the day and time that you select. You will be sent an email reminder.

5. You earn 1 PIPER credits for each ½ hour of participation. All participants are free to end a research session for any reason. In this case, researchers should award credit for the time the participant spent in the session.

6. Cancellation Policy: Participants may cancel a research appointment without penalty in the PIPER system (by dropping the session) up to 24 hours before the appointment time.  A participant may cancel a research appointment without penalty up to 1 hour and 20 minutes before the session by emailing the experimenter.  The researcher can cancel the session up to 1 hour and 20 minutes before the appointment. The researcher should notify you (via email) of the cancellation. The research participant or the researcher both retain the right to cancel the session at any time for any reason after it begins. In this case, the research participant will receive the appropriate credit for the spent in the session (not necessarily full credit for the study).

7. When you don't show up or cancel a session: Participants who do not cancel a session (according to item 6 above) and do not arrive at the study location within 10 minutes of the research appointment, will lose one PIPER credit (e.g., if the study lasts one hour and is worth 2 PIPER credits – a participant who does not show up will lose 1 PIPER credit). As a result, participants who lose credits must earn more credits to satisfy PSY 101, 121, and 299 requirements.

8. Research participants may complete an anonymous evaluation of a PIPER study. After an RP receives credit for a study a link will appear in PIPER that will direct the user to the online research evaluation form.

9. Assigning credits to your class:  After participants accumulate PIPER credit, they must apply PIPER credits to a class in order for the faculty member to verify that the student has earned credit. Participants may apply credit to only ONE psychology class. Once you allocate credits to a class you cannot remove them. You must allocate your PIPER credits to your class before the first day of final exams.

If the experimenter does not show up to the research appointment:
In the event that a participant shows up for a research appointment and the experimenter does not show, the research participant will receive full credit for the study. The research participant should first contact the faculty sponsor of the research study and ask for the credit. If the researcher is unresponsive, then the research participant can contact the PIPER coordinator (piper@tcnj.edu) in order to receive credit.

The alternative to the PIPER requirement:

If you are enrolled in PSY 299 and would like to complete an alternative assignment, see your course instructor for an alternative assignment.

For students enrolled who are enrolled in courses with a research requirement (PSY 101 or 121), APA requires an Alternative Assignment to be offered to students who choose not to participate in psychological research (http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html).  The Alternative Assignment offered by the TCNJ Psychology Department will provide students with an experience comparable to the ten required PIPER credits.

Assignment overview:

This assignment involves reading a scholarly article (you will select one from about 10 alternatives). Then you will type your responses to 10 (PSY 101 and 121 students only) questions about the article. Each question is worth 1 PIPER credit. Your answers will be reviewed by a faculty member to ensure that you have thought deeply about the research. The faculty member will grade your alternative assignment. You cannot earn partial credits, and you get one opportunity to rewrite your answers.

Instructions for completing the Alternative Assignment (PSY 101 or 121 students only; 299 students see your instructor for an alternative assignment).
1. Before October 20 (Fall semester) or March 20 (Spring semester), declare your intention to complete the Alternate Assignment by sending an email to the PIPER coordinator (piper@tcnj.edu). In the body of the email include: (a) Your name, (b) Course (PSY101 or 121), (c) Course Instructor's name, (d) Course meeting day and time.

2. The PIPER coordinator will enter your information into a database, reply to your email (so that you know you are registered for the alternative assignment), and give you additional instructions.
3. Generally, what you will do is:
-Examine and select one of the alternative assignments from the pool.
-Write your answers to the questions in the assignment.
-Each question is worth 1 PIPER credit.
-You cannot earn partial credits, and you are allowed to rewrite your answers 1 time (and only 1 time) if you do not earn all the PIPER credits on your first try.
4. The alternative assignment is due ON or BEFORE October 30 (Fall semester) or March 30 (Spring semester). This due date allows ample time for evaluation and rewrites of the assignment.

5. If you elect to complete the alternative assignment, you cannot earn some PIPER credits by completing research studies and some through the alternative assignment. After you declare your intention to complete the alternative assignment, you MUST complete the alternative assignment to satisfy the PIPER requirement (you cannot change your mind and then earn PIPER credits by completing studies).

Advice from the PIPER Coordinator:
  • Start your PIPER studies early.  Keep in mind:
    • Studies tend to be slow to appear at the beginning of the semester, so be patient early.
    • PIPER opportunities tend to peak between the middle and end of the semester.
    • There can be some opportunities during the last week of classes, but many researchers want to complete their projects before the end of the semester - so don't count on opportunities.
  • If you have concerns about the requirement, talk with your instructor or the PIPER coordinator. One solution may be to complete the alternative assignment.
  • If you have problems with the system or experience problems meeting the requirement, contact the PIPER coordinator.

Links:
PIPER policy - this .pdf document describes all the procedures for PIPER. You must know the procedures before you can use the system.

Participation Record Form - download and print out this form. Bring it to each one of your PIPER sessions and ask the researcher to sign it after you have completed the study. This will be your proof of participation and it is your responsibility to maintain this form.