I am running a research project where I have lengthy (approx 4 hour) appointment with participants. For long appointments like this I provide snacks to help them recharge and get them through it, along with coffee, tea etc.How did I do here? Should be offering something different? What snacks would you like to have if you had a long appointment?
>>22071760Looks and sounds like a nice variety. I would add some fruits if possible. Apples and bananas maybe? Good on you for keeping the participants refreshed Anon!
>>22071779I agree that fresh produce would be nice but honestly with 80 appointments over a few months it's just not really feasible to keep perishables stocked. And trying to guess what people can't eat is hard; gluten, sugar, allergies, etc
Who the hell needs snacks for doing 4 hours of nothing? Are you running a fat people study or something? Offer bottled water. Snacks are unnecessary for a 4 hour study session
>>22071786people eat something more often than 4 hours anon. that's a normal time between meals for some people. plus they're doing various tasks which require energy and attention and frankly a break and a reward snack helps.haven't you ever been on a flight? when that stupid peanut trolley comes around everyone gets excited like dogs in a pound
>>22071760If the participants know they’re going to have long sessions most will probably plan their meals accordingly. I’d appreciate the gesture, and the selection looks reasonable. Could also add a fresher option like some fruit.
>>22071790>people eat something more often than 4 hours anon. Fat people do. Normal people don't need food every 4 hours. That's ridiculous. What kind study are running if you don't mind? Are the participants doing strenuous physical activities or are they sitting in a chair filling out questionnaires? Giving out snacks for form fillers is ridiculous.
>>22071793Only about half the people take a snack break. Although I've found even if they refuse a snack, if they have to use the bathroom they'll usually grab a snack while they're up, and sometimes they'll grab one as they're leaving. Some grubs grab an armful and shove it in their bag but whatever
>>22071797Lots of visual and auditory tasks and they vary in difficulty, as well as subjective questionnaires. It can be pretty fatiguing. It's not full on for the whole 4 hours but 4 hours is a long time to be in a room concentrating
>>22071785If you’re running this many appointments and have to stock up stuff I think it’d be better to focus on “safe” options. Most adults with dietary restrictions or who are picky eaters will know that they shouldn’t expect randomly selected food to be something they can or want to eat. It’s good to be prepared but don’t miss the forest for the trees.
>>22071802yeah sometimes people have a sticky beak at the snack box and say no thanks. can't please everyone
>>22071798When I went through these sorts of sessions, there were smaller candy snacks which were packed in small containers. Chocolate chips, gummy bears, and other small sorts of sweets. The small containers could be refilled with a larger bag and most people won’t take a huge amount or grab a ton if it’s not prepackaged in a container they can take to go. You don’t have to do this, but it’s just a thought.
>>22071801Come the fuck on. You're babying your participants to an absurd degree. Less than four hours concentrating on a task isn't enough to make people hungry. I never had snack time anywhere after elementary school. That includes higher education and work which I guarantee demanded a lot more focus and effort than doing some stupid grad students four hour nonsense study. Hell, I had three to four hour standardized test sessions in high school with no snack time.
>>22071811Good idea anon. At some point I'll have to restock of course so maybe I'll just get some big bags of gummy bears and shit and make a little snack bar with tongs or something
>>22071817these people don't have to be there anon. and we want them to have a good experience because all studies need participants, we want people to be willing to come in
>>22071797It is perfectly normal to take a small break 2 hours into work or study for like, coffee and a kitkat or something. You are an uptight dullard. Well done OP for being a sound cunt
>>22071760Why only white people snacks? Does your research project exclude POC?
>>22071840but those are rice crackers anon, not rice krakas>>22071838thanks friend
>>22071760Is your research project about how fat people will always choose the candy over those rice cracker things?
>>22071847that would be a funny deception but no it's not, and frankly research ethics don't allow you to deceive people unless it's explicitly stated that some of the data collected won't be explicit
>>22071838So you're bribing morons with junk food to do your study? You should be highly skeptical of the results if it takes Kit Kats to get people to participate.
>>22071864people don't know there will be snacks, tea, or coffee. they come in for their own reasons and it's nice to treat them like guests.
>>22071857can't you generally deceive people if 1) the deception is necessary for the study, and 2) the participants won't be harmed by the deception?
>>22071864I’ve had therapy sessions with little snacks like these. It’s not bribery so much as leaving a positive lasting impression. Like ending a night of gaming on a win, it makes you feel good about it afterwards and in hindsight. Also most large scale medical studies these days literally bribe people with cash (officially it’s paying for their time), and you should seriously question the legitimacy of those if you’re questioning OP giving participants small snacks.
>>22071876yeah you just have to include it all in your ethics application and they will scrutinize it heavily, it needs to be justified and pose no risk or distress. fat shaming wouldn't fit into most studies
>>22071879there's a fine line between reimbursement and coercion. we pay people for their time but not enough it's really worth their time, it's more to cover transportation and any disruptions caused. almost nobody wants to take the money because it's not the motivating factor for people who want to join research. but, I have to give it to them, I just tell them they can regift it to someone who needs it more if they like, but either way I can't keep it
>>22071891Getting people for studies is difficult, especially ones which are very restrictive. A big study at my institution a few years ago on effect of certain diets in prediabetic participants was paying people over $500 to eat exactly what the researchers gave them for a month or two and collect stool samples at certain intervals with a collection kit. They had to advertise very aggressively for more than a year before getting enough participants.
>>22071891I did a bunch of those University studies like 20 years ago when I was young and destitute and I just lied and made shit up like most everyone off the street who answered the study classifieds that were in the "alternative" free newspapers. Money and free food were the only reasons I participated. I did studies where I had to pretend to be an alcoholic or depressed or gay or whatever. If you're not the vetting the participants in some way the results are meaningless.
>>22071910I would not shit in an envelope for a month for $500I did almost join a study at a surgical hospital to have my toe amputated and then reattached for $10,000 but my parents flipped their shit and more or less made me not
>>22071912we are recruiting from medical records so we have a cohort of people already assessed/diagnosed, and we are just looking at the effects of different interventions
>>22071760I don't use drugs and rice crackers are disgusting. I wouldn't be going to whatever coerced scamshit you are doing either though.
>>22071760Put some bottle water out
>>22071936we have a billi tap of cold filtered water. bottles are a good idea though because they can take them with them and they don't spill >>22071935maybe you should use drugs
>yfw OP is casting couching women for porn
>>22071879I worked on a medical conference for Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation. Fully 50% of 1400 scientific abstracts were on viagra. They also do lotteries where the tickets are $100 and the prize is $50.
>>22071944>what do you think we meant by STROKE foundation?
>>22071760You shouldn’t be providing them with sweets and chocolates. You’re encouraging bad behaviors. I’ll illustrate my point: I knew a guy who ate a lot of chocolate as a kid and grew up to be a drug addict. He is now dead. Chocolate isn’t so funny now
>>22071938Maybe you should stop taking advantage of drug addicts for your study.
>>22072023Their participation is voluntary >>22072029the research doesn't involve drugs, addiction, or drug addicts
>>22072029The people being taken advantage of are the retarded kids paying to work years for vague promises the piece of paper they get will lead to a paying job; when there is just another retarded kid to replace them with.
>>22072069you're drinking too much Flavor Aid™ anon. anyone who doesn't excel in their field fails; and that's exactly the same for trades and business owners and university degrees alike. choose your own adventure and take your own risks, and you can sink or swim.myself, I have 3 university degrees (going on 4) and have made it work well for me and make a living improving certain areas of healthcare in ways that are valuable enough to justify 10x my salary
>>22071760>What snacks would you like to have if you had a long appointment?Sunflower seeds, but honestly anything that would keep my hands busy for a long time.Hell, just bring a bunch of walnuts or macadamia and a nut cracker and I won't even eat nuts.You could also get wasabi peas, they were always a big hit when I did business expos.
OP, don’t be bothered by the anti social demoralizers. I think it’s a good spread, i agree with some fruit options, but would also suggest a drink other than water. Like caprisun or something similar
>>22072522We offer tea and coffee and most people prefer a tea. I don't have soft drinks on hand and most of our demographic (older adults) wouldn't even consider things like fruit drinks and sodas and such
>>22072539Old people like sparkling water.
>>22072544
