Participation FAQs
Most of the Marketing professors have a research requirement as part of their courses. To fulfill this requirement, you can participate in lab sessions. Research assistants and former research assistants are NOT eligible to participate in lab sessions.
You can participate in interesting and easy to complete research right here in Pamplin. Research sessions typically take about 30 minutes to complete and translate into 1 credit point. All you need to do to participate is sign up online and show up for your appointment. Most research is conducted in Pamplin 3003 or 3005. Some research is conducted online, from the comfort of your own home!
First, you must obtain an ID and Logon from the Sona online experiment system. Click “Request Account,” fill in the information, and you will receive a confirmation email that includes your ID and password. This means your junkmail preferences need to allow emails from "vt-marketing-admin@sona-systems.net”.
Your email is probably "junking" email from the Sona System. You need to change your junkmail settings in order to receive future communications from Sona (including your password, study announcements, study reminders, etc.). Please also check your junkmail folder for missing emails. If this does not solve the problem, you may have mistyped your email when creating your account- if so, you’ll have to contact the lab manager.
Creating dual profiles is a problem and may prevent you from getting all your credits. If you forget your password, do NOT create a new account, and instead ask the system to resend your password. If you cannot seem to get your old profile/have already created another one, please contact the system administrator immediately.
You can sign up for studies on the Sona System site. You can choose to participate at whatever date and time works best for you. You simply go online and sign up for any available study at any available time slot. Make sure you arrive at the beginning of your time slot (maybe even a couple of minutes early, or earlier if requested for the particular study). Finally, studies are conducted right here, at Pamplin 3003 or 3005, so you can easily drop by and earn your credits between classes! Some studies are even conducted online and you can complete them from the comfort of your own home!
The system will ask you to indicate when you create your login ALL the classes that you are enrolled in that are eligible for credit. Then when you sign up for each study, you will be asked to indicate in advance which class you'd like to assign credit to; this decision cannot be changed after the fact (credits are granted only after you participate however).
You can earn up to 10 credits this way. After earning 10 credits, you do not need to earn more; contact the lab manager, and they will confirm you hit the maximum allowed credits and make sure you receive full credit. If you have 1 course with the 5 credit requirement, you need to earn 5 credits. If you have 2 courses with 5 credit requirements, you need to earn 10 total credits. If you have 3+ courses with 5 credit requirements, you need to earn 10 total credits and then email the lab manager.
Note, however, that we do not guarantee that all 10 credit opportunities will be available to you during the semester (others could sign up and take all the slots for some studies). Thus, it is important to both take advantage of opportunities early (as they come) and also to think carefully which class you'd like to assign the credit to (this decision is made when you sign up for each study and cannot be changed).
Unfortunately, we do not allow transfer of credits. The system will ask you to indicate when you create your login ALL the classes that you are enrolled in that are eligible for credit. Then when you sign up for each study, you will be asked to indicate in advance which class you'd like to assign credit to; this decision cannot be changed after the fact.
Research opportunities are posted all throughout the semester but may be limited in number and students will be accommodated on a first-come, first-serve basis. Hence, it would be wise to complete studies and earn credits early, rather than wait for the end of the semester when fewer studies/slots may be left. However, if you repeatedly sign up for studies and do not show up, you may be contacted by the system administrator and/or your professor, and your continued eligibility may be discussed. In signing up you are taking up a slot of another student that could have earned the credit you have foregone; please be considerate and do not sign up if you are not going to show up.
Each study posted on the system indicates how long it would take and how many credits you will receive for completing it. Once you complete the study the researcher usually grants credits within 48 hours. You can view how many credits you have by logging into your account (more information). If you have completed a study and have not received credit for your participation within 48 hours, the best path of action is to contact the researcher for that study directly. The email/contact info will be listed with the study info. If there are multiple researchers and you are not sure which is the lead one (usually a professor as opposed to a student), you can email them all. If you do not receive a response in a timely fashion, please email the lab manager.
If after reviewing the manual and completing the account request form you still have trouble logging in/signing up, please contact the system administrator.