The IELab does not permit experiments involving deception.

Before experiments are conducted, approval must be obtained from the Indiana University Human Subjects Office (hereafter HSO), located in the Office of Research Administration. 

Note: HSO requires that all co-researchers involved in a project must be included as co-investigators on application forms. Further, all individuals involved in lab activities must have competed the "on-line" exam on the conduct of experiments with human subjects administered by HSO.

The IELab no longer maintains a database of IU students who have volunteered to participate in decision-making experiments. 

Working groups use alternative procedures for recruiting subjects. For example, researchers from Economics use a system called ORSEE for recruiting subjects. Researchers from Psychology use a subject "sign-up" mechanism, coordinated by their department. 

If you are conducting experiments that include a group context, be sure and recruit alternates. Some subjects who volunteer will not show up. 

Example: For an experiment with 3 groups of 4 subjects, most researchers would recruit 12 subjects with an additional 2 to 3 alternates. Recruiting is often done a few days before the experiments, followed by a reminder email to confirmed subjects. 

It is useful to have a "sign-up sheet" similar to the ones provided: 

Signup sheet: pdf | Word 97-2003

Most experiments conducted in the IELab will include cash payouts. However, we realize there are some instances in which pre-tests or research experiments may include non-cash incentives, such as extra-credit. 

Make a copy of the record sheet for your files. You will need to submit the original for reimbursement purposes. 

Obtaining the cash for your experiments is your responsibility. The process depends on the particular research group (or faculty member) with whom you are working. Be sure you have sufficient cash to pay subjects for the maximum amount they could earn.

Keep a log of each experiment that you run. A copy of the experiment log should be given to Cami Pritchett.

The IE Lab is protected by two key systems-electronic and physical. The electronic key (IU Crimson Card) unlocks the entry door into the lab, giving access to the lobby of the IE Lab. The physical key unlocks the inner doors of the lab, giving access to the computer rooms. 

Electronic Keys

All researchers, research assistants, and instructors must register their Indiana University issued CrimsonCard with the IE Lab in order for the card to be activated, allowing entry to the IE Lab. This allows the IE Lab to monitor who enters the lab (for security purposes and for monitoring lab usage.

Physical Keys 

Physical keys 1) are limited in number, 2) are quite expensive to replace; door locks must be changed if a key is lost, and 3) give direct access to the computer labs. 

For this reason, only faculty, graduate students and IE Lab administrators may receive a physical key. Undergraduate research assistants cannot receive a physical key, unless under special circumstances reviewed on a case-by-case basis (see policies for Undergraduate Research Assistants, below). 

The IE Lab supports the involvement of undergraduate research assistants (URAs) in data collection, for research and educational purposes, when they are properly trained and supervised on IE Lab security protocol and recognized Human Subjects/IRB ethical standards. 

Special policies apply to 1) how URAs may access the lab and 2) URA training and supervision. 

Accessing the Lab 

As with other lab users, approved undergraduate research assistants (URAs) must register their university CrimsonCard with the IE Lab—doing so allows them after-hours access to the IE Lab lobby. However, the IE Lab does not permit URAs to have physical keys (by default, faculty advisors and graduate-student supervisors are not permitted to lend their physical keys to URAs)*.

It is the responsibility of the URA's faculty advisor to make the necessary arrangements so that either the faculty advisor or one of the advisor's approved graduate student supervisors can use his/or physical key to open the reserved computer room door when the URA needs to access a computer lab for data collection or other relevant activity.

*  Undergraduates may be given a physical key only under special circumstances. Doing so requires pre-approval from the IE Lab Directors and demonstrable supervision by an approved faculty advisor and/or graduate-student supervisor.

Initial Training and Long-Term Supervision 

The IE Lab has established two important supervisory measures for URAs to ensure that all URAs maintain high standards of security and the ethical treatment of human participants in research throughout their tenure of accessing the lab.

1. Initial Training. Each URA must receive at least two weeks of direct supervision when beginning to work in the IE Lab. The supervisor must attend every session in which the undergraduate is involved during those initial weeks of using the lab. 
2. Monthly Check-ups. Once a month thereafter, the URA's supervisor must check the performance of each URA. This check-up must occur in the IE Lab and span a session in its entirety (from entry to exit). Such supervision should focus on security and ethical protocol; however, we also envision these trainings and check-ups as educational opportunities to help deepen undergraduate appreciation for the professional administration of research in a laboratory setting.

 * Completion of the Initial Training and Monthly Check-ups must be documented and put on file with the IE Lab administration. 

* Such training and supervision is to be carried out by the URAs faculty advisor and/or approved graduate-student supervisor.

Research reservations are to be made for projects, where a "project" is defined by having a unique Human Subjects/IRB approval number.

Reservation requests can be made on an on-going basis throughout the academic year. In the past, the lab has also been used on a limited basis for classroom activities, especially those related to experimental research or research methods.

The number of hours reserved and time slots will depend on the needs of the various units reserving the lab. Applicants may request to reserve as many hours in the lab per week as they desire. However, by default, only the first six hours per week requested will be given high priority. 

Requests for more than six hour per week will be given secondary priority, 

They will be assigned to timeslots after all high priority hours have been scheduled in a given scheduling period (i.e., at the beginning of the semester or on a rolling basis). With the exception of special cases, secondary hours will only be fulfilled if enough timeslots are available. 

We encourage individuals who successfully reserved more than 6 weekly hours earlier in the semester to relinquish some of their secondary hours/timeslots to other individuals needing lab space if asked to do so by the IE Lab facilitators. 

Our expectation is that the IE Lab will be used primarily for research (data collection) and secondarily for educational activities, which ideally pertain to instruction in experimental methods. Thus, note that different standards apply to reservations made for research versus education. 

To make a reservation request, e-mail your request to ielab@indiana.edu

Prior to submitting a request, 

Please check the facility calendars to see which lab rooms and days/times are still available before you submit your request.