FAQs

1. Timing – How will this fit in my schedule? 

   1. Worried about scheduling? We will work with you to find a time that is suitable for both your family and our researchers! Participants are sent a link to our booking portal where you can select an appointment time on our calendar.  

2. Location – How will I know where to go? 

   1. Studies are conducted in the Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology (PAS) building at the University of Waterloo.  

   2. We provide thorough directions to our parking lot location.  

   3. Researchers will be sure to meet you in the parking lot with a free parking pass. This way, they can lead you through the building to our lab! 

3. Our Lab - What is a lab space like? 

   1. We have many different types of spaces in our lab! Participants are always first invited into one of our bright and fun playrooms where little ones can get used to the new environment. 

   2. Playrooms – our playrooms are stocked with toys for children of all ages. We are also careful to sanitize toys after use. 

   3. TV room - In this room, children sit on parents’ laps and watch a short video together.  

   4. Activity rooms – In these rooms, children play games set up for them or they may be set up on a laptop where a researcher will guide them through the study. 

4. Kids - What if my child becomes uncomfortable/doesn’t want to continue their participation in the study? 

   1. If your child does not feel like continuing, we can stop the activity at any time! We want kids to have fun in the lab, and everyone has bad days! We totally understand if you need to stop the study session early!  

5. Confidentiality- What happens with the data from the study? 

   1. In our lab, we take confidentiality very seriously. All of our studies have privacy requirements that are approved by a research board here at the University of Waterloo.

   2. In our studies, participant data does not have names attached to it. We only ever use participant ID numbers; therefore, your child’s identity will never be revealed with any study results.  

   3. The results of your child’s involvement will never be discussed; we are interested in the results from the full sample of children who participate in each study, not the responses of individual children. 

6. Results - Will I get to know what the results of the study are? 

   1. You will not receive results about your child’s individual results. We are not testing your child; instead, we are interested in learning more from the full sample of children. This tells us what children of a certain age tend to do in a particular task. We send parents a newsletter each year with study updates. You can also look at the papers posted on our website for more detailed findings. 

Have additional questions that weren’t answered here? Feel free to email us at babylab@uwaterloo.ca