Procedures for Testing Children
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ABOUT THE TESTING GUIDELINES...
To protect children and vulnerable adults that we use in experiments as well as ourselves, we must observe legal and ethical protocol in every way, and in accordance with recommendations from bodies such as the British Psychological Society. Unfortunately this means paying some attention to the necessary forms. To make this as easy as possible ALL forms that you might need for testing children and vulnerable adults are in this document. They are numbered 1 to 4 and each contains a line at the top telling you if you will need to read/fill out that particular form. Please read through them all and keep a print-out of all those that apply to you. If you are printing out a form that you have filled in, do not worry about formatting, or keeping it on one page.
The forms have been drawn up by a number of different committees and individuals in Psychology. They should be self-explanatory, but if you have a query regarding any particular form, please contact the person named as 'Contact' at the top of the form.
All testing:
Form 1: CHILD PROTECTION POLICY (read only)
Form 2: ETHICS COMMITTEE SUBMISSION (download document)
Testing in the departmental nursery (Uni-Tots):
Form 3: GUIDELINES FOR TESTING NURSERY CHILDREN (read only)
Form 4: APPLICATION TO TEST CHILDREN IN THE (UNI-TOTS) DEPARTMENTAL NURSERY (download document)
FORM 1: CHILD PROTECTION POLICY
This is a READ-ONLY form and applies to:
ALL TESTERS OF CHILDREN.
Contact : Dr Maggie McGonigle
Work with children can take place in a number of contexts, e.g. home, school or clinical setting. The following guidelines focus mainly on contact in schools and nurseries; however the principles should be applied wherever they are relevant.
Any project involving children will have been previously approved by an internal departmental ethics committee. This committee will check that the following points are observed:
1. Letters to parents briefly describing the study should be distributed via the school or nursery. Only children whose parents have agreed to their participation in a study may take part, and, where appropriate, children may also give written consent for the project by means of a signature. Separate written consent should be sought for the use of video-taping. Tear-off consent forms can be appended to the letter to parents.
2. All testers should have an Enhanced Disclosure of criminal record which is not more than one year old at the time of testing. Forms for this may obtained from Mrs Shirley Kirkaldy. There is a small charge for this which is paid for by the School but testers and project supervisors should bear in mind that they need to apply at least 6 weeks before the start of testing.
3. Testing of children should ideally be conducted with two adults present, either two experimenters or an experimenter and an observer, though it is understood that this is not always possible.
4. As far as is possible, care should be taken to ensure that all children are aware that they may withdraw from the research at any time. Where appropriate, involved adults such as teachers and parents should be asked to reiterate this point to children.
5. All information obtained from the child will be collected anonymously, and will be strictly confidential to an academic setting, but feedback to parents at the end of the study, regarding their own child, is acceptable and often welcomed.
6. Researchers must comply with the new Data Protection act, i.e. records of results are anonymous in all published research disseminations, and explicit written permission is sought from participants or their guardians to keep personal data (including names, addresses and video records) for future use.
NOTE: Any and all documents relevant to these above points (such as Disclosure certificates and letters to schools/parents) should be attached to your Ethics submission.
FORM 2: ETHICS COMMITTEE SUBMISSION
The form applies to:
ALL TESTERS OF CHILDREN and VULNERABLE ADULTS.
Contact : Dr Alison Lenton
You MUST fill out the form by following the instructions under the Ethical Review Process on the Psychology Research Ethics web page. You are advised to do this as soon as you have decided on your project design and procedures. Please note that your supervisor (if you have one) must sign the form before submission.
FORM 3: GUIDELINES FOR TESTING NURSERY CHILDREN
This is a READ-ONLY form and applies to: Contact: Dr Maggie McGonigle
ALL TESTERS OF CHILDREN IN THE PSYCHOLOGY NURSERY (UNI-TOTS).
The parents of the children in the Nursery have agreed to let us work with their children without seeking specific permission each time we do so, provided the studies involve straightforward observations of language, play, etc. or testing which takes the form of a brief, enjoyable 'game'. This is a considerable convenience for us and we must ensure that it is not abused. The following procedures must therefore be observed before children are studied
The nursery supervisor (Ms Audrey Cameron, Audrey.Cameron@ed.ac.uk), is directly responsible for the children. You must therefore seek her advice and assistance as described below. When Ms Cameron is not available, you may approach another member of the nursery staff
OBTAINING PERMISSION TO TEST
Once you have obtained Ethics approval, you can fill out the application to test in the nursery (Form 4 on this document). Only one application is required for group projects, but it should list names of all student participants. Please leave one copy of your application form with the servitor to put in Dr McGonigle's pigeon-hole (but it is also advisable to alert Maggie by e-mail that you have applied) and take a second copy to Ms Cameron, along with a copy of your Enhanced Disclosure, and the confirmation of Ethics approval (a printed copy of the e-mail notification will do)
PREPARING TO TEST
The children: Ms Cameron (Room LG38) will provide you with a list of children in the Nursery, and their dates of birth. If you require information about e.g. parents, consult Ms Cameron first. The children can be tested or observed between 8.45 and 4.00 pm with some limitations during story-time and lunchtime, and for 4-5 year olds whilst they attend their curriculum class. Before starting to test, it is requested that you spend some time in the Nursery before you take the children out to be tested so that they become familiar with you and see you as part of the Nursery routine. Two 45-minute sessions are recommended. You may do this whilst waiting for your forms to be processed.
The project: You should not plan to test a child for longer than 15 minutes at any one time. You can of course test the same child over several 15-minute sessions. Reward stickers are often a good incentive.
The testing rooms: The testing rooms are B69, and B70. Booking is done online and it is permissible to arrange testing times and book cubicle slots whilst your Ethics application is being processed. Please do not make block-bookings without being reasonably sure that you will be using the cubicles at those times. If you are going to use the same room, over a period of days or weeks, you can leave equipment and materials in it, but if the rooms are in heavy use, you may have to find another storage place: never leave expensive equipment in an unlocked room.
TESTING PROCEDURES
Taking the children out of the nursery: Ms Cameron will ask you to note testing times and cubicle in her book and to complete testing record cards for individual children (see Records of Testing below). But, in addition, before taking any child out of the Nursery, or before observing any child in the Nursery, you must check with Ms Cameron. She may suggest that you should try someone else because your first choice has already been tested that morning or is not feeling well or is being observed. No child is to be taken out of the Nursery without her permission and she must first have asked the child if he or she would like to go with you. It is essential that you respect these procedures on every occasion. If any child has not been tested before, or is still not entirely at ease being tested, Ms Cameron may suggest coming down with them to begin with and leave them with you only if they are happy to be left there.
In the testing rooms: Ideally there should be two testers when children are taken out of the Nursery. Most of the children will take for granted the presence of tape recorders etc. If they ask about them, it is usually best to be perfectly honest with them and to tell them that you are recording what they are saying. Always ensure that the lights are on in the testing room and the door is unlocked before you bring the child down, particularly in a room that does not have windows. Leave the door ajar if possible. If a child shows any signs of distress at being tested, you must take him or her back to the Nursery at once.
FIRE PROCEDURE
Should the fire alarm (a long and continuous ringing) go off when you have a child out of the Nursery, please take him or her out of the building IMMEDIATELY by the nearest fire escape route (make sure you know ALL the escape routes from the building before you take the child to a testing room) and report to the nursery supervisor at the assembly point (Pharmacology veranda). Do NOT try to take the child back into the Nursery. Whether or not there is a fire, please try to reassure the child and treat it as 'a game to get out of the building'.
RECORDS OF TESTING
There are two records of testing that you must complete:
(1) Ms Cameron's logbook should contain a record of when you were working in the nursery. In addition you should record brief details on the record cards of the individual children you are working with. This is done on index cards in the Nursery that Ms Cameron will show you. There is a card for each child in the Nursery, and on every occasion on which you test a child, you must enter details of the date, duration of the testing session, the study, and the tester.
(2) Once your study has been completed, a brief summary of it (no more than 1 page) should be made and given to Dr M McGonigle. The title and abstract of your project write-up will do. Please do not forget to provide the summary of your findings. It is important that we are able to let parents know what has been happening in your study; often they will already have heard from the child what he or she has been doing with you but the point of the study is not always obvious from that account!
FORM 4: APPLICATION TO TEST CHILDREN IN THE PSYCHOLOGY NURSERY (UNI-TOTS)
The Application to Test Children in the Psychology Nursery (Uni-Tots) form applies to:
ALL TESTERS OF CHILDREN IN IN THE PSYCHOLOGY NURSERY (UNI-TOTS).
Please note that you need to submit your approved Ethics form and your Declaration of Criminal Record along with this form.
Contact: Dr Maggie McGonigle
Last modified 2010-01-08 03:04 PM
