This page is an introduction to the process of submitting a scale to mass and validation testing.
Mass Testing is offered for the first 7 - 8 weeks of a term and is hosted outside the SONA Experiment Management system through Qualtrics ™ and can be linked to Sona. This system does not require researchers to code scales - scales can be created using a simple point-and-click fill-in-the-blank interface.
The Mass Testing submission form and the PreScreen Questionnaire submission form for SPRING 2024 will be open until March 29, 2024.
You may also be interested in our information on how to use Mass Testing Data to select participants for your study by creating wishlists and to invite qualified participants to sign up for your study.
The study(ies) using the Mass Testing survey scale must have ethics approval. Mass Testing is primarily used for participant pre-screening, and researchers are required to submit a copy of their scale as "pre-screening materials" in the appendices of their ethics application to the ORE (Office of Research Ethics).
Validation Testing is offered for the last 4 weeks of a term (Fall and Winter terms only) and is also hosted outside the Sona system through Qualtrics ™.
Qualtrics ™ is a United States of America company. When information is transmitted over the internet, privacy cannot be guaranteed. There is always a risk responses may be intercepted by a third party (e.g., government agencies, hackers). Please see creating and using a scale for mass/validation testing for more information.
Mass Testing Survey
Mass Testing Survey is administrated by a committee headed by REG Faculty Advisor Dr. Jonathan Fugelsang and the Research Experiences Group (REG) Coordinator David McLean. All researchers wishing to include scales in mass testing (MT) will be responsible for coordinating and submitting groups of scales (ordinals) to the REG Coordinator to be included in MT. The submission of the scale request, and coordination of placement needs of all scales, must be received by the REG Coordinator by the published submission deadline.
Collected MT data will be shared on the REG SharePoint site to all users that have submitted requests to use mass testing for the term. Researchers that have not complete MT submission forms for the term but whom wish to use MT data must contact REG (Daev McLean) and provide confirmation of ethical clearance to use the MT data. Access to the SharePoint site will only be granted after confirming ethical clearance of the project.
Validation Testing Survey
Validation testing (VT) is designed to allow researchers to collect data to validate new measures. Individual prior ORE approval is not required, and scales included in this booklet cannot be used for regular data collection or study pre-screening, which must occur during mass testing.
Validation scales and orders will be decided through the same process used for mass testing.
Number and length of mass and validation testing orders
- There is a maximum of one (1) REG credit granted for the completion of mass testing. As the ORE requires that participants receive 0.5 REG credits for each 30 minutes they spend doing research-related activities, this means that each order* can be no longer than 60 minutes.
- There is a maximum of 0.5 REG credit granted for the completion of validation testing. This means a survey with an estimated completion time of 30 minutes.
Pre Screen Survey
Submissions due same date as Mass Testing
Acquiring SONA mass and validation testing data from previous terms
Prescreen, mass testing (MT) and validation testing (VT) data are archived electronically indefinitely (with personal identifiers removed). Our archives contain electronic data since Spring 2006. Many researchers are interested in information about what scales have been submitted to mass testing and validation testing in the past.
If you require a list of scales that appeared in previous terms, please contact REG (Daev McLean). Confirmation of ethical clearance may be requested.