Introduction
Our names are Zahira Flores and Melanie Montejano, and we are undergraduate students at Heritage University. We are supervised by Dr. Amy Nusbaum.
We are conducting a research study to learn about the admissions experience for prospective experimental psychology Ph.D. students, in addition to exploring the factors that contribute to preparation for the admission process. With these findings, we hope to give undergraduate students clarity to know what is expected of them in the graduate school application process and help graduate programs clarify and improve their admissions procedures. The name of this research study is “Experiences Applying to Graduate Programs in Psychology.” I am seeking your consent to participate in this study.
Please read this document to learn more about this study and determine if you would like to participate. Your participation is completely voluntary, and we will address your questions or concerns at any point before or during the study.
Eligibility
You may participate in this research if you meet all of the following criteria:
1. Attend a four year college/university
2. At least a junior in standing
3. Psychology majors
4. Are planning on applying to an experimental psychology program for a Ph.D
I hope to include 200 people in this research.
Activities
If you decide to participate in this study, you will be asked to do the following activities:
1. complete a confidential survey through SurveyMonkey. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes. You may skip any question and all responses will be kept confidential.
During these activities, you will be asked questions about your:
· demographics (race/ethnicity, gender, year in school, household size, income, citizenship status)
· academic experiences
· knowledge of the graduate application process
· involvement in extracurricular activities
All activities and questions are optional: you may skip any part of this study that you do not wish to complete and may stop at any time.
If you need to complete the activities above in a different way than I have described, please let me know, and I will attempt to make other arrangements.
Risks
There are no foreseeable risks or discomforts associated with this study. You can still skip any question you do not wish to answer, skip any activity, or stop participation at any time.
Benefits
If you participate, there are no direct benefits to you. This research may increase the body of knowledge in the subject area of this study.
Privacy and Data Protection
I will take reasonable measures to protect the security of all your personal information, but I cannot guarantee confidentiality of your research data. In addition to us, the following people and offices will have access to your data:
· The HU Institutional Review Board
This data could be used for future research studies or distributed to other investigators for future research studies without additional informed consent from you or your legally authorized representative.
We will securely store your data for 3 years. Then, we will delete electronic data and destroy paper data.
How the Results Will Be Used
We will publish the results in a presentation and publication. Participants will not be identified in the results.