Research participation and SONA

The SONA database

Staff and students in the School of Psychological Sciences recruit from a variety of the participation population for research projects. To facilitate this, SONA is our experimental management system that provides a list of all current research projects and enables individuals to sign-up and participate in the studies of their choice.

SONA saves time for participants and protects their confidentiality by ensuring volunteers are not identifiable to researchers.

There are two different volunteer programs: the first-year Psychology Research Awareness Exercise is for students, while the Psychology Volunteer Register is for the general public.

Research Awareness Exercise

The School operates a Research Awareness Exercise for students enrolled in selected undergraduate courses in psychology.

For these courses all students are provided with the opportunity to participate in psychological research studies undertaken by experienced researchers and students in exchange for partial course credit.

It isn't compulsory but the Exercise represents a fundamental aspect of teaching in psychology and provides students with the facilities to undertake their own research required for fourth year.

Psychology students wanting to participate in research projects should consult the SONA Participants Guide.

Psychology volunteer register

The Psychology Volunteer Register enables individuals from the general public, and the broad university student and staff population to participate in research projects carried out by staff and research students within the School.

Research projects offer a range of participation incentives including cash as travel reimbursements, store gift vouchers, entry to prize draws or access to educational services.

There are two simple steps to register your interest in being a volunteer:

  1. You need to create a SONA account
  2. You can now access and sign-up to a psychology research project.

This will give you immediate and permanent access to the SONA system and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Resources for researchers

Researchers who would like to recruit from the participant pool should consult the School of Psychological Sciences Canvas Site for detailed information about using SONA.