AP Research Inquiry

[Jamila]

Hello, I am an AP Research student at Texas. For reasons unknown, I decided to make my research project an online experiment involving children aged 8-12. This is really hard, given the need for the IRB, and the difficulty of distributing the experiment. Basically, children aged 8-12 will fill out a survey on age compression, watch 6 Instagram reels that are kid friendly, and then do the same survey, and I'll see if there is a quantifiable difference in the rating system of each question. I recognize now that it would be so much easier to do something like a metanalysis, or an experiment without human subjects, especially minors, but too late to back out now. My question is- how can I target my ideal group of participants? I want this to be a generalizable population of the entirety of the USA, so I was thinking about reaching out to school administrators across the country to see if they would somehow distribute my survey, but I don't know how it's possible. Is there (first of all, anyone who thinks their parents and younger siblings would be able to do this survey, or) any place on the internet I can easily get a generalizable group of participants? For reference, minimum sample size is 30 people. Thank you!

[CharonY]

1 hour ago, Jamila said:

My question is- how can I target my ideal group of participants? I want this to be a generalizable population of the entirety of the USA, so I was thinking about reaching out to school administrators across the country to see if they would somehow distribute my survey, but I don't know how it's possible. Is there (first of all, anyone who thinks their parents and younger siblings would be able to do this survey, or) any place on the internet I can easily get a generalizable group of participants? For reference, minimum sample size is 30 people. Thank you!

I think building a representative sample with an N of 30 is a bit too ambitious. Even with 100 it can be tricky but casting a wide net might makes things very difficult. Also, as it involves children, the ethics process is fairly involved.

My suggestion is to try to make a more focused study and build a connection to an area or even just a school. Ideally a supervisor should be able to help out or at least provide some guidance. There are also additional rules working with minors in some jurisdictions, such as background checks, but I think it may mostly apply to direct interactions, rather than surveys. You will need to build a consent process involving the parents that has to pass the ethics review, which can take fairly long. I think your best chance is to get into contact with schools and ask them to help you to contact parents and discuss your project. Such projects take a surprising amount of legwork.

[Jamila]

1 hour ago, CharonY said:

I think building a representative sample with an N of 30 is a bit too ambitious. Even with 100 it can be tricky but casting a wide net might makes things very difficult. Also, as it involves children, the ethics process is fairly involved.

My suggestion is to try to make a more focused study and build a connection to an area or even just a school. Ideally a supervisor should be able to help out or at least provide some guidance. There are also additional rules working with minors in some jurisdictions, such as background checks, but I think it may mostly apply to direct interactions, rather than surveys. You will need to build a consent process involving the parents that has to pass the ethics review, which can take fairly long. I think your best chance is to get into contact with schools and ask them to help you to contact parents and discuss your project. Such projects take a surprising amount of legwork.

Thank you!