Psychology Student Research

Funding Opportunities

There are many opportunities for undergraduate Psychology students to access research funding to support research projects that are supervised by StFX faculty. Past students have been supported by NSERC undergraduate student research awards, the Irving Mentorship program, Research Nova Scotia’s Scotia Scholar Program, the Centre for Employment Innovation Research Mentorships, etc. For information on all of these funding opportunities and more, please see: 

• Student Research Opportunities
• Undergraduate Research

Research Ethics Committees

Any data collection (surveys, lab studies, etc.) that involves human participants must have ethical clearance from the Psychology Department Research Ethics Committee (REC) and/or the StFX Research Ethics Board (REB).

All researchers who intend to recruit human participants for their studies must complete the TCPS2: Course on Research Ethics 2022 (CORE 2022) prior to submitting their ethics applications. The certificate that is received upon successful completion of the course must be included as a part of every ethics application. Follow this link to access TCPS2: CORE-2022. 

Different types of projects require review at different levels: 

1. Honours thesis projects: Honours thesis projects are reviewed by the Psychology Department Ethics Committee (REC). Once the REC has approved the project, the REC Chair will sign the application and return it to the student. The signed application must then be uploaded to the StFX Research Ethics Board (REB) through the ROMEO system. Unless the project is deemed to be of moderate or high risk to participants, the Chair of the REB will expedite the application review process by reviewing the application themselves. 
2. Student and/or course-based projects: Non-honours thesis student projects and course-based projects (see below for the parameters for course-based projects) are reviewed only by the Psychology Department REC.  
3. Faculty projects: All applications for faculty research, including research that has been approved by REBs at other institutions, must go through the StFX ROMEO system for review by the StFX REB. 

See the StFX REB webpage for further details.

Course-Based Research

The Department Research Ethics Committee (REC) reviews course-based research activities that involve the following: 

1. Data collection outside of the classroom context on students or others who are not enrolled in the course. 
2. Data collection inside the classroom context on students enrolled in the course who are collecting data on each other.
3. Data collection by the professor inside the classroom context on students enrolled in the course, when the data is deidentified, aggregated, and distributed to students for analysis and write-up in a lab report.  

The Department Research Ethics Committee does not review course activities including student self-reflection or class demonstrations that are voluntary and where consent is indicated by participation, as neither of these activities are considered to be research. 

Rec Members 2022-23*
Dr. Margo Watt (Coordinator) 
REC Members:  Dr. Chris Lively, Dr. Lindsay Berrigan, Dr. Kara Thompson, Dr. John Corbit, Dr. Mark Snow, Dr. John McKenna
*Appointments updated annually

How Do I Submit My Application?

1. Honours Student and Other Student Applications: Complete the StFX Research Ethics Board Application Form found here. Do not delete the questions or any other content from the form. Use page breaks between Appendices. 
   
   Once you have completed the application: 
   • proofread it carefully. 
   • have your supervisor check it for errors and approve it. 
   • email it to the Chair of the Psychology Department REC. 
   
   The REC Chair may contact you to request revisions to your application. Upon approval from the REC Chair, you will receive a signed copy of your application by email. Next, upload this signed copy of your application on the StFX ROMEO system.
   
   If and when an honours thesis application has been approved at the REB level, the REB Chair will send a notifying email to the following individuals: the applicant, the faculty supervisor, the REC Coordinator, and, if applicable, the Psychology 101/102 Participant Pool Coordinator. 

2. Course-Based Applications: Complete the Course-Based Application found here.
   
   Once you have completed the application, email it to the Chair of the Psychology Department REC. The REC Chair may contact you to request revisions to your application. You will be notified by email upon approval by the REC Chair and will then be able to begin your project.

3. Faculty Applications: Please see the StFX REB webpage for details about how to submit your application. All applications are completed on the ROMEO system.

Instructions and Samples for Application Appendices

• Invitation to Participate and Consent Form Guidelines and Templates
• Sample Phone Recruiting Script
• Sample Recruiting E-mail message
• Debriefing Instructions and Sample
• Sample In-class Recruiting Script

Please Note – All use of the Psychology 101/102 Participant Pool must go through the Psychology 101/102 Participant Pool Coordinator.