New research participant pool being created

CHEPA is supporting the creation of a Participant Pool to facilitate Research Studies.

It uses an online participant management software called Sona Systems, administered and overseen by CHEPA member Emmanuel Guindon. Researchers will be able to use this system to recruit participants. The researcher provides a description of the study and specifies their eligibility criteria, ensuring their study is only visible to those participants who meet the desired criteria. All research types and topics of study are eligible to draw from the participant pool, provided the research/study has received ethics approval from the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (HiREB). Accessing the participant pool is free.

Participants interested in becoming part of the pool are required to create an account and answer pre-screening questions (e.g., age, education level, etc.). Once registered, when they login in, they will be able to view active studies for which they are eligible (they meet the participant eligibility criteria). If they choose to participate, they will be provided with specific instructions to complete the study (if it’s an online study, they will be provided with the link; if it’s in-person, they will select a time slot). Participants are assigned a unique identifier so that they remain anonymous to researchers.

Administers are trying to recruit a broad spectrum of research participants (e.g., all ages; students and non-students, etc.). Please consider signing up and distribute to anyone who might be interested in signing up.

Researchers will be able to add their studies to the system and advertise to the participants in the pool.

Sign up for an account to participate in studies as a research subject. You will need to select “request an account” to join the pool. If you have questions about joining the participant pool or would like to add your study to the system to recruit participants from the pool, please email sona.chepa@mcmaster.ca.