In on a Saturday!!! There was a family who could only come in to participate in the Infant Feeding Study on Saturdays, so here I am! Everything went well! I'm growing a lot more comfortable with the Pea Pod and with conducting the tests with the mother. Debriefing the mom after having deceived her used to be pretty uncomfortable, but I find it much easier after having done it a few times. I actually really enjoy this side of the Infant Feeding Study! The sibling involved in the study was a little difficult to work with, but overall, the visit went very well!!
March 2012 Archives
Today I worked on mostly calling, I got a couple of families to come in for the study. I also noted that nearly all of the families have either been scheduled or called, so it looks like we need a new database for recruiting. Since i'm still pretty new, I learned how to make copies of all the family information questionaires that we mail to the families since we were low on all the sheets.
Today I continued to call libraries in order to ask permission to hang an ICD IPP poster in their library. I finally got a yes from one library, and immediately had Josh call her so that they could set up a meeting. After I finished calling libraries, I switched to entering IPP data for the rest of the day.
I worked on mostly calling families to recruit for the PDEF study for Rachel, I scheduled some, and others I either didn't answer or I left a voicemail. Once I was done with that, I created and mailed the packages for the families containing the information they need. I also entered in one of the new cases into the database.
Today I called parents for children to participate for the Psych Distancing study Cathy is doing. I was surprised to have so many of the numbers disconnected. I contacted one parent who informed me that she wanted information sent to her on the study before she committed. He husband is a psychologist and likes to look over the studies before they have their child be part of them. I went through the call list pretty quick and have it almost finished. I still need to transfer the incorrect information to the other list so Josh can make corrections.
Today I called for EFM Validation. This is the study that I am the most familiar with, so calling for this study is much easier for me than other because I can confidently answer any questions that the parents may have. I had a decent success rate of scheduling sessions today, but still left many voicemails, as with any calling experience.
On Tuesday I had two participants come in for research sessions and I spent six hours in the lab. The sessions went pretty smoothly. I hadn't run a session since before break so it took a little bit to get back into it, but everything ended up running well. Julia and I both have a lot of sessions coming up soon, so we'll be very busy. It was my first time adding in the arrow task again at the end of the session, but it went just fine. The eight year old participant didn't seem to mind doing it again. Hopefully including that task again at the end will be able to shed some light on the results we're getting.
I was supposed to have a session on Wednesday that got cancelled because ended up getting lice, but we were able to reschedule for mid-April. Overall, everything has been going well, no major mishaps. I'm looking forward to the busy weeks to come.
I finished up the 3.5 year old list for Wendy's study. I saw that there have be two attempts on the 4.5 year old list to contact parents. I ended up going back through the 3.5 year old list again to try to reach parents. Going back through the list I reached one parent that mentioned her son has autism. I can't recall if that disqualifies him for the study. There was nothing noted on the call sheet which lead me to believe that her son could do the study. I emailed Wendy to find out if the parent's son could be part of the study. I informed that parent that I would call her back tomorrow.
Today I continued calling families to verify email addresses and to remind them about the online games and grade reports. Madeline and I both forgot to take into account that it was before 7 AM in Washington, so a couple families were upset that we were calling so early. I stopped calling until it was after 8 AM in Washington. I mostly left messages and reached a small percentage of the families I called.
March 27th was a short day. I continued calling for Wendy's study the list for 3.5 year old. I scheduled one parent and received no responses when I called the other parents.
March 27th was a short day. I continued calling for Wendy's study the list for 3.5 year old. I scheduled one parent and received no responses when I called the other parents.
Today was a short day. I continued calling from Wendy's study the list for 3.5 year old. I scheduled one parent and received no responses when I called from the rest of the parents.
Today I spent most of the time catching up on thank you cards for the PDEF study. I made about 30 of them, got them addressed and put them in the outgoing mailbox. Some of the scheduling sheets were i get the address for were missing the address so I went onto the server and received them. After I was done with the thank you's, I double checked that all the data we have up to date was entered into SPSS. It was so I then started calling to schedule the last few participants we need for the PDEF study. Unfortunately I was unable to reach anyone, but I did leave a few voice mails.
Today I spent most of the time catching up on thank you cards for the PDEF study. I made about 30 of them, got them addressed and put them in the outgoing mailbox. Some of the scheduling sheets were i get the address for were missing the address so I went onto the server and received them. After I was done with the thank you's, I double checked that all the data we have up to date was entered into SPSS. It was so I then started calling to schedule the last few participants we need for the PDEF study. Unfortunately I was unable to reach anyone, but I did leave a few voice mails.
Today I spent most of the time catching up on thank you cards for the PDEF study. I made about 30 of them, got them addressed and put them in the outgoing mailbox. Some of the scheduling sheets were i get the address for were missing the address so I went onto the server and received them. After I was done with the thank you's, I double checked that all the data we have up to date was entered into SPSS. It was so I then started calling to schedule the last few participants we need for the PDEF study. Unfortunately I was unable to reach anyone, but I did leave a few voice mails.
Today I worked with Josh to update the subject tree for the BMI study to see which gaps we still need to fill. I also called 2 participants to reschedule their appointments that they were unable to attend earlier last week. I then continued calling both 4 and 6 year olds and was able to schedule one 6 year old female. I also spoke with a woman whose 4 year old son qualified for the study but she needed to check with her husband first to get his permission. Another women I spoke to asked me to call her back on Friday because she needed to check if her daughter would be interested in participating. This reminded me of how important it is to get consent from both the parents and the children when you are conducting research with minors. Josh also showed me how to update the entries in the IPP and remove any participants that no longer wanted to be a part of the database.
Today I worked with Josh to update the subject tree for the BMI study to see which gaps we still need to fill. I also called 2 participants to reschedule their appointments that they were unable to attend earlier last week. I then continued calling both 4 and 6 year olds and was able to schedule one 6 year old female. I also spoke with a woman whose 4 year old son qualified for the study but she needed to check with her husband first to get his permission. Another women I spoke to asked me to call her back on Friday because she needed to check if her daughter would be interested in participating. This reminded me of how important it is to get consent from both the parents and the children when you are conducting research with minors. Josh also showed me how to update the entries in the IPP and remove any participants that no longer wanted to be a part of the database.
Today I worked with Josh to update the subject tree for the BMI study to see which gaps we still need to fill. I also called 2 participants to reschedule their appointments that they were unable to attend earlier last week. I then continued calling both 4 and 6 year olds and was able to schedule one 6 year old female. I also spoke with a woman whose 4 year old son qualified for the study but she needed to check with her husband first to get his permission. Another women I spoke to asked me to call her back on Friday because she needed to check if her daughter would be interested in participating. This reminded me of how important it is to get consent from both the parents and the children when you are conducting research with minors. Josh also showed me how to update the entries in the IPP and remove any participants that no longer wanted to participated
Today I work on calling for the BMI study. I first returned the phone calls from the VM we received over the weekend and all those kids were screened out. I continued calling for 4 year old males and was unsuccessful in reaching very many parents but was able to leave a handful of voicemails. Today I also went through the binder and got rid of any sticky notes with personal information from participants that were screened out or we are unable to reach. It is important to keep everyone's information confidential and make sure that anything written down gets shredded. After seeing the email about the open xcel file on the computer screen a couple weeks ago I also made sure that I closed any windows opened on my computer if I needed to leave the room during calling.
Today I work on calling for the BMI study. I first returned the phone calls from the VM we received over the weekend and all those kids were screened out. I continued calling for 4 year old males and was unsuccessful in reaching very many parents but was able to leave a handful of voicemails. Today I also went through the binder and got rid of any sticky notes with personal information from participants that were screened out or we are unable to reach. It is important to keep everyone's information confidential and make sure that anything written down gets shredded. After seeing the email about the open xcel file on the computer screen a couple weeks ago I also made sure that I closed any windows opened on my computer if I needed to leave the room during calling.
Today I work on calling for the BMI study. I first returned the phone calls from the VM we received over the weekend and all those kids were screened out. I continued calling for 4 year old males and was unsuccessful in reaching very many parents but was able to leave a handful of voicemails. Today I also went through the binder and got rid of any sticky notes with personal information from participants that were screened out or we are unable to reach. It is important to keep everyone's information confidential and make sure
Today I work on calling for the BMI study. I first returned the phone calls from the VM we received over the weekend and all those kids were screened out. I continued calling for 4 year old males and was unsuccessful in reaching very many parents but was able to leave a handful of voicemails. Today I was reminded of how important it is to make sure that any written personal information is
On the 22nd, I helped Rachel with calling for PDEF, as I have a few times in the past, for the first half of my time. The calling went smooth, and I was able to schedule a few participants for her. After that, I started on a data entry project counting the number of participants, their parents, and teachers that were tested in 2011 in the EFM 4 study. I then spent all of my time on the 27th finishing that up. It took much longer than I thought it would, but I definitely learned a lot about how excel works in the process. Also, as I have said while working on previous data entry projects, although the data entry itself can become a little tedious, it is interesting to see the paperwork from the sessions and to learn a little more about what games are actually played during the sessions.
On the 22nd, I helped Rachel with calling for PDEF, as I have a few times in the past, for the first half of my time. The calling went smooth, and I was able to schedule a few participants for her. After that, I started on a data entry project counting the number of participants, their parents, and teachers that were tested in 2011 in the EFM 4 study. I then spent all of my time on the 27th finishing that up. It took much longer than I thought it would, but I definitely learned a lot about how excel works in the process. Also, as I have said while working on previous data entry projects, although the data entry itself can become a little tedious, it is interesting to see the paperwork from the sessions and to learn a little more about what games are actually played during the sessions.
On the 22nd, I helped Rachel with calling for PDEF, as I have a few times in the past, for the first half of my time. The calling went smooth, and I was able to schedule a few participants for her. After that, I started on a data entry project counting the number of participants, their parents, and teachers that were tested in 2011 in the EFM 4 study. I then spent all of my time on the 27th finishing that up. It took much longer than I thought it would, but I definitely learned a lot about how excel works in the process. Also, as I have said while working on previous data entry projects, although the data entry itself can become a little tedious, it is interesting to see the paperwork from the sessions and to learn a little more about what games are actually played during the sessions.
Today I called for EFM Validation for mostly 4.5 year olds. There was a new list so I called through all of the 4.5 year olds so far. I also called back a few families that had called us back, but I was only able to schedule a couple sessions. Some things I notice when I'm calling are possible errors such as "M" instead of "F" or numbers that may be entered incorrectly so families are unable to be reached. I wonder about how simple errors like these affects which families are reached. I also notice that although there is some diversity, a more diverse population of participants could give interesting results.
Today, I spent my four hours entering data! This gets a little tedious at times, but I feel like I accomplished a lot, which is a good feeling. I entered basically all of the remaining Children's Behavior Questionnaires, Child Eating Behavior Questionnaires, and Anthropometry Forms for the Infant Feeding Study. Then, I went back and checked the status of all the other many questionnaires for this study in terms of how many have been entered. Now we just need to enter data for questionnaires after each family visit since almost everything is pretty much caught up. There are a lot of visits going on these days, so it will be good to not be bogged down by overwhelming data entry.
On Saturday I ran my first PDEF session with Rachel. One family had to reschedule, and their daughter was a little bit too old for the study, so I ran the session to practice. Both parents, the participants, and her baby brother came to the session. The participant seemed very clingy, so her mother stayed in the room off to the side while I ran the tasks. I was surprised in this session because the participant did not want to do any of the tasks. The only task that we completed was the PPVT. However, after talking to Rachel I realized that I would ask, "Do you want to play a different game?" when really it would be better to say, "Okay! Now we're going to play a new game!" Hopefully I can make some adjustments and the next session will run more smoothly.
Today I recruited 6-year-olds for the Psych Distancing study. I was able to schedule 4 families, and mailed them welcome packets.
Today I checked the DCF email, hoping for some parents who said they would schedule via email to respond, but unfortunately none have. I will call them again tomorrow.
I worked through IPP survey 2s and got the rest of the stack done. I also entered a few single babies. I continued the double-checking of preemies that Josh had me start last week and finished it through the current dates. Then I started going through the returned call logs and removing/editing information as necessary. In the past, there have been participants from really old call logs that already had their phone numbers removed (if they were discontinued/wrong number), but I started a call log from early March that had a lot of them removed already which was strange to me. Either way, I got through a few call logs and kept track of email addresses for people who no longer have any phone numbers in the database.
This blog is for 3/19, 3/21, 3/23, and 3/26. I did not have access to the blog until now.
3/19 from 4-6pm- Rachel worked with me on showing me data entry, what needs to be entered, errors to look for, and general information. I entered data for approximately 20 cases.
3/21 from 4-6pm- Worked on entering new data and also a larger scope of data than before. Rachel worked with me again on which data I am responsible for and how to be more accurate as to double checking the most important information. I also learned how to create and mail out the packets to the parents containing the information needed for when they visit the lab.
3/23 from 12:30-2:30pm- Worked on some more data entry, really feel like I'm getting the hang of it in what needs to be done. Also worked on confirming appointments and making some calls. Definitely getting more comfortable with working on the phone. Also created and mailed out packets for families.
3/26 from 4-6pm- Came in today, Rachel wasn't here so I (struggled for a bit) but eventually got into the information needed. I noticed there were a couple new files, so I entered those data into the computer, so that's completely updated. I also made a few calls, scheduled a couple individuals, and created and mailed out packets. Overall, feels like I'm starting to get the hang of things.
Today I was able to help Megan out with a 3 month session. I tested the mom for this session, and she was very cooperative and easy to work with. She did not have any suspicions about the taste perception task, and was a great sport when I told her the real reason we are interested in what she eats. During the time I didn't need to help with the session, I caught up on emails and checked voicemails. I entered data into the infant feeding recruitment log, and made sure everyone who needs to come in for their session is getting in. It was a successful day!
Today I put together some packets, made about 25 thank-you's for EFM Scaling, and called for EFM Validation for 4.5 year-olds. I scheduled one appointment for Sam this week.
Today I started off with librarycalling for IPP, trying to find local libraries that would like to have our IPP posters in their libraries. So far none were interested, but the list is around 115 or so, so I forsee no problems. I finished off the day entering data for IPP and sorting the different IPP data Josh had for me, sorting siblings and non-siblings into two categories to ease data entry later.
Today I helped Rachel by looking through the PDEF videos and finding a good example of a kid failing the executive function tasks. More specifically she wanted me to find a three year old girl that was very verbal as she performed the test. I went through the PDEF binder and to those in the control group and then examined their EF scores. If they seemed like they did poorly I pulled their file and watched their testing video. I was able to find two good examples of kids failing. One girl and one boy. While watching the video I noticed that the rules of the tasks were repeated over and over between each round. I was wondering why they needed to be repeated so many times. Does it improve the child's answers? After I found the two videos, I did some calling for PDEF. I did not have very good luck scheduling because I didn't have a lot of time. I left a few voicemails though.
Today I entered the latest data from the DCF and made a few calls. Then Wendy came and we went over the Delay task one more time. I'm feeling good about the tasks and looking forward to testing!
Today I went over the consent process and a couple of the tasks for the DCF with Wendy. I'm excited and hoping to start testing soon!
Then I made some calls for the DCF to both new parents and also to a couple parents who wanted us to call back today. Unfortunately, the latter didn't answer, but I did get ahold of a couple parents who are interested and again want me to call back next week.
I did entering for IPP too. I started with survey 2s and got through a good chunk of them, and then I did some double-checking of old entries.
We had some trouble with door to 88D - it's becoming more and more difficult to get open, even after you hear the lock click like it should be open. Has anyone had this problem and figured out how to open it more easily?
I came in this morning and continued calling the call list for 3.5 year old age for Wendy's study. I was able to schedule 3 parents and run through about 20 calls. I figured out why I was having problems with the email yesterday. I kept trying to log into the U of M mail not recognizing that it was through gmail for the DCF study mail box. I let Wendy know and then proceeded to email the 2 parents I scheduled yesterday. I noticed when I have the DCF gmail account up, I am not able to access the google calendar through zelazolab that has the scheduled information. When I email a parent, I get logged out of the calendar and have to then log back in.
I came in this morning and continued calling the call list for 3.5 year old age for Wendy's study. I was able to schedule 3 parents and run through about 20 calls. I figured out why I was having problems with the email yesterday. I kept trying to log into the U of M mail not recognizing that it was through gmail for the DCF study mail box. I let Wendy know and then proceeded to email the 2 parents I scheduled yesterday. I noticed when I have the DCF gmail account up, I am not able to access the google calendar through zelazolab that has the scheduled information. When I email a parent, I get logged out of the calendar and have to then log back in.
I came in this morning and continued calling the call list for 3.5 year old age for Wendy's study. I was able to schedule 3 parents and run through about 20 calls. I figured out why I was having problems with the email yesterday. I kept trying to log into the U of M mail not recognizing that it was through gmail for the DCF study mail box. I let Wendy know and then proceeded to email the 2 parents I scheduled yesterday. I noticed when I have the DCF gmail account up I am not able to access the google calendar through zelazolab that has the scheduled information. When I email a parent, I get logged out of the calendar and have to then log back in.
I came in this morning and continued calling the call list for 3.5 year old age for Wendy's study. I was able to schedule 3 parents and run through about 20 calls. I figured out why I was having problems with the email yesterday. I kept trying to log into the U of M mail not recognizing that it was through gmail for the DCF study mail box. I let Wendy know and then proceeded to email the 2 parents I scheduled yesterday.
I came in this morning and continued calling the call list for 3.5 year old age for Wendy's study. I was able to schedule 3 parents and run through about 20 calls. I figured out why I was having problems with the email yesterday. I kept trying to log into the U of M mail not recognizing that it was through gmail for the DCF study mail box.
I came in this morning and continued calling the 3.5 year old for Wendy's study. I was able to schedule 3 parents and run through about 20 calls. I figured out why I was having problems with the email yesterday. I kept trying to log into the U of M mail not recognizing that it was through gmail for the DCF study mail box.
I came in this morning and continued calling on the 3.5 year old call list for Wendy's study. I was able to schedule 3 parents and run through about 20 calls. I figured out why I was having problems with the email yesterday. I kept trying to log into the U of M mail not reconizing that it was through gmail for the DCF study mail box
Yesterday I forgot to blog until I had to leave to get to class and then forgot again until now... so here goes!
I entered quite a bit of IPP data yesterday.
I also changed a session for the DCF that conflicted with Wendy's schedule. Then I made calls for 4.5 year olds for the DCF. I probably called 40-50 people and spoke with less than 10. One woman booked, another I will call back tomorrow, and the last wants to participate but needs to discuss it with her daughter and husband. If they don't call back by next Wednesday, I will call them again. I'm not sure why we have been having such bad luck getting ahold of the 4.5 year old families. We've tried calling at all times of the day. With an extra person calling this time around though, we should have enough time to call 3 times/leave messages. Last fall we had a lot more people call back after messages were left, so hopefully that happens again!
Today I came in and continued calling for Wendy's study. I saw in the call log that Sara finished up the 4.5 year old portion of the call log. I entered the remaining 25 children at the 3.5 year old age into the call log. After I finished that, I started making calls. One of the calls I talked to the father and he didn't feel his son qualified for the study after I explained it. He said his son is having speak delay problems and receiving therapy for it. I was thinking as he explained this to me that his son would be fine for this study. The study focuses on delay gratification rather than speech. I was going to let him know that if it was okay with him, I would ask Wendy whom is running the study if Thomas his son would still qualify. But without a moment of delay he also included they were too busy because they just had a baby. He still wants to do future studies. Would speech delay be considered a reason his son couldn't do the study?
Today I came in and continued calling for Wendy's study. I saw in the call log that Sara finished up the 4.5 year old portion of the call log. I entered the remaining 25 children at the 3.5 year old age into the call log. After I finished that, I started making calls. One of the calls I made the father didn't feel his son qualified for the study after I explained it. He said his son is having speak delay problems and receiving therapy for it. I was thinking as he explained this to me that I would ask him if
Today I came in and continued calling for Wendy's study. I saw in the call log that Sara finished up the 4.5 year old portion of the call log. I entered the remaining 25 children at the 3.5 year old age in the call log.
Today I checked to see if participants completed grade reports and online games and stated whether they did or didn't into the Tompin and ERP information spreadsheets. I also started calling the families to verify email addresses and to remind about online games and grade reports.
Today I made a list of all the public libraries in the Twin Cities area. After I made the list, Josh wanted me to put them into a Microsoft Excel file so I could create a call log. I gathered all the libraries' information, such as telephone number and address, and put them on the Carlson Lab database. In total I believe there were about one hundred sixty entries, which will give me a goal to reach each one and ask about putting up some IPP flyers in their library.
Yesterday I worked on data entry for new forms that came in the mail over break. I also sent out gift cards for the teachers and families who needed them. Lastly I checked the double entry for any errors in the data sheet.
Today I worked on recruiting participants for the Psych Distancing Study. I was able to schedule three families to come in and mailed them welcome packets. Last time that I had called, I reached a mom at a busy time, but I was able to get in touch with her today to set up an appointment. I left voice messages with families that I had already tried reaching once, so hopefully some families will be interested and will call back!
Today when I came in I had cathy sign and look over my directed research contract to hand in in order to gain credit. I informed her that I plan to work in the Carlson Lab again this upcoming fall semester. I spent most of my time entering data today. I finished inputting the data for all of the participants in the PDEF study we have so far. Then, I started entering some of the parent data including the grit scale responses. Since the grit scale is usually filled out by the person being observed or tested, I am wondering the validity of it since the parents are filling it out in this case for their children. I understand that it would not make sense for three and five year olds to fill out a questionnaire about themselves but could some parents possibly be biased toward their own children when answering questions about them? Just a thought :)
I was supposed to have a participant scheduled for this evening, unfortunately they had to call and cancel as they had a conflict come up. The mother left me a message asking to reschedule for a time that should work with my schedule, so that's great! I called her back to let her know that the time would work, so hopefully I'll hear from her soon to confirm. The next couple weeks I have a lot of participants coming in, so I should be very busy!
Today I started by finishing up calling for scaling, scheduling the last two 2.5 year olds. I then started data entry for scaling, but wasnt able to get very far before my time was up for today. I have not really done data entry before, so it was different for me and a little bit to get used to, but overall it went well.
Today I started by finishing up calling for scaling, scheduling the last two 2.5 year olds. I then started data entry for scaling, but wasnt able to get very far before my time was up for today. I have not really done data entry before, so it was different for me and a little bit to get used to, but overall it went well.
Today, I did some housekeeping items for Cathy while Sam was running a session, such as sorting payment receipts. I then called families for EFM Validation, but was at the end of the list so I was only able to schedule one appointment for Sam for next week. I also made some packets for EFM Scaling and Validation for upcoming appointments, and before I left I made some copies of family questionnaires, consent forms, and DCCS forms.
Today I worked on scheduling eight year olds for the SRF study. I was able to schedule 7 participants, which was great! Last time I called I was only able to get a few participants so I was really glad that I was able to get so many this time. My next few weeks are all booked up with participants, so I should be good to go for awhile. I finished going through the list for the second time, so the next time we go through the list we'll have to start leaving messages. Julia and I are really working through the list quickly and we've been able to see a lot of participants! So far scheduling has gone very smoothly, we've able able to keep a pretty consistent number of participants coming in. I'm thinking the third time through the list it will probably start to get a lot harder to schedule people. People always seem more willing to sign up for a time when you actually get to speak with them, but I feel like less people are likely to sign up when we just leave a message. Hopefully we're still able to get quite a few more participants!
I didn't get a chance to write an entry yesterday, but yesterday I was able to watch a PDEF session with Hannah and Rachel. I practiced running some of the tasks with Rachel over break, but it was helpful to see how to set up (e.g. getting the PPVT, knowing which forms to grab, meeting the family outside, getting a parking pass). The child who was being tested seemed particularly difficult at times, so I also found it helpful to see how Hannah reacted. For example, at one point the child was interested in another picture on the PPVT, but Hannah was able to keep the participant focused.
Today, I came in a little early to help set up and conduct a 3-month visit for the Infant Feeding Study. Luckily, the Pea Pod is done overheating, so we were able to run the session. I helped Megan with the Pea Pod and baby measurements and also ran the computerized tasks and Taste Perception Task with the mother. I learned how to properly sanitize all of the equipment after each session is complete as well. Afterwards, I entered lots of questionnaire data for the Infant Feeding Study. We are making a lot of progress both with conducting all of the sessions and in data entry. Erin and I have been able to keep up with the enormous amounts of paperwork to enter into digital databases without any problem. I got a lot done today!!
Today I came in and Cathy asked me to make copies of the new version of the Psych Distancing Work Task Script. I also watched early videos of the Psych Distancing study to enter missing data. It was useful to see how children act differently - some are really shy, and some are very talkative! It has also be beneficial to hear the script while I am watching videos to see how everything fits together.
Today I came in early and started making calls to parents for Wendy's study. I completed the information entry in the call log for the children who are 4.5 year old. Then I started to make calls and scheduled two parents.
Today I came in early and started making calls to parents for Wendy's study. I completed the information entry in the call log for the children who are 4.5 year old. Then I started to make calls and scheduled two parents.
Today I came in and started making calls to parents for Wendy's study. I completed the information entry in the call log for the children who are 4.5 year old. Then I started to make calls and scheduled two parents.
Today I came in and started making calls to parents for Wendy's study. I completed the information for the call log for 4.5 year olds. Then I started to make calls and scheduled two parents.
Today I called for 4 year old males for the BMI study. We are done to one last participant and I spoke with a women that thought her son would qualify but she was going to confirm his measurements with me tomorrow. It was surprising how easy it was to get back into the calling mode after taking a week off for spring break. I also worked on separating and stapling together the new survey packets for Josh.
Today I worked on entering in the new cards into the Infant Participant Pool. I was very careful to check for siblings that might already be in the database and making sure that their contact information was up to date. I also entered in babies that did not have any siblings and have become a lot faster at determining how premature they are.
Today I continued to call for the BMI study and had some problems with the internet in 88D. I called almost 25 families and was unsuccessful in scheduling any new participants. I also worked on going through old calling databases and highlighting any entries that had a wrong or disconnected phone number. I was able to get through two old calling lists. I thought this was interesting how the lab takes the wrong number lists and then either changes them in the database or uses alternate contact information to receive an updated phone number. It was also nice to see that we do remove anyone that is not interested from the database.
Today I continued to call for the BMI study for Josh and wasn't able to schedule any new participants. I also worked with Matt on coding the fourth pilot study video for the EFM validation study. There was a problem with the file in the VLC player so we were unable to get it to work. We went and got help and found out that the file needed to be converted before we could view the entire thing. We will try to finish up coding that video once we get the glitch fixed!
This afternoon I entered data into the database for IPP. I focused all of my time today entering online survey information. I entered all of the information provided, double checked that the subjects were not already in the database, and checked for their siblings as well (if they had any). I found a few errors in the surveys, most of which were presumably mistyped birth information such as having a sibling born one month after another. For these errors, I circled the information that I believed needed to be clarified and gave them to Josh so that he could ask the parents to clarify their responses.
When I arrived, I went through EFM Scaling "video consent" and "lab consent" forms and blacked out initials and participant numbers that were marked in the upper corners. Then, I worked on EFM Validation calling for the majority of the time. I spoke with a few parents and scheduled three appointments. I feel a little more comfortable making calls and answering parents' questions about the study, or if they get results, how to get there, etc, now that I have called a few times. Finally, I made a few copies of study forms for Cathy before I left.
Today I worked mainly on data entry for the PDEF study. I put data in for about ten kids and everything went smoothly. There were a few pieces of missing data that I was unable to find so I wrote Rachel a note with the participant number and missing information. While working on the computers in Rm 88 a couple people stated that they were having issues with their internet connection but my computer (one closest to the wall) was working fine. Rachel told me to delete an entry, however I could not remember exactly which one it was so I left a message for her and I will take care of it when I am back in the lab on Wednesday. Also while in the lab today I made three confirmation calls for PDEF for tomorrow's appointments. I spoke with one of the fathers, but the other two I left voice mails.
Today, I entered data for the Infant Feeding Study. There was supposed to be a session this morning for the study, but due to this uncharacteristically warm weather and the lack of air conditioning in the CNBD right now, it had to be canceled because the Pea Pod was overheating. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon so we do not have to keep canceling sessions. Danika and I also talked about scheduling sessions and how to approach contacting families who suddenly seem uninterested in participating in the Infant Feeding Study.
This morning I worked on some data entry for the SRF study. I worked on entering some of the recent data for the eight year olds into the spreadsheets that I made last semester. Now that we have some new behavior and personality questionnaires that the parents are filling out we are going to have to edit the spreadsheet. Hopefully I'll get some time after break to add the new questionnaires to the excel sheets.
I also made a couple calls to some families who were busy when I called earlier and asked to be called back Unfortunately, I wasn't able to schedule any more sessions. Both families I called decided that their kids just had too many after school activities going on, spring sports are starting up soon. At least I was able to schedule a few sessions yesterday!
Today I worked on calling and scheduling 8 year olds for the SRF study. We've made it all the way through the list once, so now we're calling families for the second time. There have been a lot of disconnected numbers, which makes sense, it has been eight years since many of these families signed up. I made a lot of calls today, but was only able to schedule three participants. I also talked to two families who will likely schedule session times. Everyone I talked to today either scheduled, or asked me to e-mail them so they could think it over, so that was great. The families that I've been able to get a hold of have all been very interested and willing to participate, it's just a matter of being able to actually get a hold of them. We're definitely working our way through the 8 year olds very quickly!
Today I recruited for Psych Distancing, and was able to schedule three 6-year-olds and two 4-year-olds. Several of the families that I called said that they were going out of town next week for Spring Break, but asked to be called back. I made notes by these families, so hopefully we will be able to schedule them the week after next.
Today I recruited for Psych Distancing, and was able to schedule three 6-year-olds and two 4-year-olds. Several of the families that I called said that they were going out of town next week for Spring Break, but asked to be called back. I made notes by these families, so hopefully we will be able to schedule them the week after next.
Today I came in to check my email to see what Wendy wanted me to do. I ended up sorting all of the fruit loops left in the bag by color. I was wondering as I was sorting the fruit loops if the kids that come into the study are hungry or not when the study is being performed. I was wondering if that was one of the factors that would change the results. Then I ended up making 20 packets for the Delay Choice study. I noticed on the PPVT sheet that the numbers were already circled. I wasn't sure if the numbers were suppose to be or not but I will let Wendy know.
Today I came in to check my email to see what Wendy wanted me to do. I ended up sorting all of the fruit loops left in the bag by color. I was wondering as I was sorting the fruit loops if the kids that come into the study are hungry or not when the study is being performed. I was wondering if that was one of the factors that would change the results. Then I ended up making 20 packets for the Delay Choice study. I noticed on the PPVT sheet that the numbers were already circled. I wasn't sure if the numbers were suppose to be or not but I will let Wendy know.
Today I came in to check my email to see what Wendy wanted me to do. I ended up sorting all of the fruit loops left in the bag by color. I was wondering as I was sorting the fruit loops if the kids that come into the study are hungry or not when the study is being performed. I was wondering if that was one of the factors that would change the results. Then I ended up making 20 packets for the Delay Choice study. I noticed on the PPVT sheet that the numbers were already circled. I wasn't sure if the numbers were suppose to be or not but I will let Wendy know.
Today I came in to check my email to see what Wendy wanted me to do. I ended up sorting all of the fruit loops left in the bag by color. I was wondering as I was sorting the fruit loops if the kids that come in to the study are hungry or not when the study is being performed. I was wondering if that was one of the factors that would change the results. Then I ended up making 20 packets for the Delay Choice study. I noticed on the PPVT sheet that the numbers were already circled. I wasn't sure if the numbers were suppose to be or not but I will let Wendy know.
Today I came in to check my email to see what Wendy wanted me to do. I ended up sorting all of the fruit loops left in the bag by color. I was wondering as I was sorting the fruit loops if the kids that come in to the study are hungry or not when the study is being performed. I was wondering if that was one of the factors that would change the results. Then I ended up making 20 packets of the
Today I found the missing Tompin ID's in the data base. I also entered new data that came in the mail.
Today I began with checking emails for the Infant Feeding Study. There were several moms who replied to emails concerning scheduling, so I responded to those first. I got those families scheduled on our calendar, as well as on the CTSI scheduling site. Next, I checked the phone for voicemails, and there were none. After checking for voicemails, I began to make my 37+ week calls. There are lots of families who are due, overdue, or due any day now. I got two of them scheduled who had their babies, and let the others know I will be checking in with them next week. I was going to begin entering data, however someone has already entered it. I will be waiting to hear back from a mom who needs to get in over spring break, so I will need to check my email out of the CNBD this week.
Today I met with Cathy to go over setting up a session, going over consent and assent, taking out a parking pass, and recording videos. I think that I have covered all of the components of running a session, so now I just have to keep working on memorizing the script. After going over recording videos, I did some recruiting for Psych Distancing and was able to schedule three participants. Cathy said that we will be changing the way that we send out the Parent Forms, so I filed the subjects that were scheduled under "Called & Sched. Need Packet" in the Call Log.
Today I worked on DCF data entry. There were quite a few new kids to enter as well as some updating of older kids after a change to the score sheet that we weren't entering before. I also did some data entry for IPP/highlighted returned call lists. I'm excited to be in more and start testing after spring break!
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished, I went back into the call log and started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would still be within the age range of the study. These parents had a notation of NR when they were called before. I also left messages with the parents that have already had NR twice. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent.
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished, I went back into the call log and started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would still be within the age range of the study. These parents had a notation of NR when they were called before. I also left messages with the parents that have already had NR twice. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent.
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished, I went back into the call log and started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would still be within the age range of the study. These parents had a notation of NR when they were called before. I also left messages with the parents that have already had NR twice. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent.
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished, I went back into the call log and started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would still be within the age range of the study. These parents had a notation of NR when called before. I also left messages with the parents that have already had NR twice. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent.
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished, I went back and started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would still be within the age range of the study. These parents had a notation of NR when called before. I also left messages with the parents that have already had NR twice. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent.
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished, I went back and started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would still be within the age range of the study. These parents had a notation of NR when called. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent. Tommorrow I will start on
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished, I went back and started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. These parents had a notation of NR when called. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would still be within the age range of the study. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent. Tommorrow I will start on
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished, I went back and started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would still be within the age range of the study. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent.
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished, I went back and started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would be still within the age range of the study. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent.
Today I came in and finished up the call log for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. After I was finished I went back on started on the 3.5 year old children that had a date of birth starting 8/20/08. I wanted to make sure when I scheduled them that they would be still within the age range of the study. I was able to schedule one parent. I was successful on using the new email account to send information to the parent.
Today I worked on double entry for the Tompin 12 research. I also entered some new data into the Tompin 12 database and sent the rest of the gift cards that needed to be sent. The database was also missing Tompin IDs for a few kids so I started working on figuring out who they were.
Today I continued calling for the PDEF study. I called both 5.5 year olds and 3.5 year olds. I was able to schedule a decent amount of sessions, around 6 or 7 I believe, and overall it was a good day calling. I have realized that when I first arrive around 3pm, most families are not able to answer their phones, but I usually have much better success as the evening continues and parents get home from work.
Today I called parents of 2.5 year-olds for EFM Scaling. I scheduled 6 sessions for Sam within the next week and a half, as the study is wrapping up. One of the moms I talked to was interested in getting results of the self-control studies, so I told her about the Fall Newsletter that summarized interesting findings. I think it's great that parents are interested in learning about their child's cognitive development enough that they will come participate in our studies.
Today, I entered data for a little while, but then had to set up and help conduct a 3-month visit for the Infant Feeding Study. I have to say running a session is my favorite part of the study. I am getting more comfortable with conducting parts of the session on my own, and working with families is something I really enjoy doing. Because I have not yet done many sessions, it will be interesting in the future to see how different moms react to the taste perception task and how the kids do in the delay of gratification part of the visit. The difficult part is always the debriefing of the moms after the taste perception task because I can never predict their reactions. All in all, though, today was a really interesting and fun four hours!
Today I learned how to conduct the work task for the Psych Distancing study, and did a little bit of recruiting for PDEF. I met with Emily and went over how to run the DCCS and Flanker on the computer, and how to set up the work task. I was able to schedule one 5.5-year-old boy for PDEF, and called 11 other families but was not able to get in touch. I also watched a video of Emily running a session, and it was helpful to be able to see how to transition between tasks. I'm looking forward to going over how to run an entire session with Cathy, and then working with families!
Today I learned how to conduct the work task for the Psych Distancing study, and did a little bit of recruiting for PDEF. I met with Emily and went over how to run the DCCS and Flanker on the computer, and how to set up the work task. I was able to schedule one 5.5-year-old boy for PDEF, and called 11 other families but was not able to get in touch. I also watched a video of Emily running a session, and it was helpful to be able to see how to transition between tasks. I'm looking forward to going over how to run an entire session with Cathy, and then working with families!
Yesterday I worked on recruiting for the PDEF study. I worked on scheduling three and a half year olds. I had pretty good luck and was able to schedule about 7 kids. One parent called back from a previous left voice mail and I was surprised! She seemed very interested as well as the other parents. I called one of the no shows back to see if they would like to reschedule and she said she would call back to the phone in the back in room 83. She did not call back while I was in so I am wondering if she got a hold of anyone later on in the day? I was wondering if we should try and schedule five and a half year olds as much as possible in the next few weeks due to spring break. Those families that are not going on vacation might be able to come in during the day and as opposed to when school is in session.
Today I worked on calling for both the BMI study and hospital IPP. I wasn't able to schedule anyone for the BMI study and all of those calls went really smoothly. I haven't called for hospitals for about a month so my first call was a little awkward but I was able to leave a message which let me practice the script. I had a hard time getting the operators at the clinics to transfer me to the manager especially when I said I was an undergraduate at the U. I think next time I am going to try to just say that I am calling from the Carlson Child Development Lab so they will take it more seriously and be more polite. I wasn't able to speak with any of the managers directly but I left a handful of messages so they are able to get back to Josh if they are interested
Today I did some calling for the BMI study, data entry into the IPP database, and coding the pilot studies for EFM Validation. I called about 25 participants for the BMI study and was able to schedule the last 6 year old female that we needed! We are now done to two participants left so recruitment for that should be wrapping up soon. I also entered more participants into our database on the IPP computer and didn't run into any problems doing that. At the very end of the day I tried to code the fourth EFM validation pilot video but there were some bugs in the file and we were unable to run it on the VLC player. We tried to figure some things out but ultimately weren't able to code the video. I did learn a lot about how the player works and where to find certain commands to speed up and slow down the streaming.
Today I made copies of several questionnaires and Psych Distancing forms and made some packets for Rachel. I made some thank-you's for one of her studies as well. I also organized DCCS cards for Sam and worked on thank-you notes for EFM scaling participants.
Today I spent the first half an hour of my time meeting with Anita to discuss our scheduling procedures. We went over what to do in case we cannot get a family in during their allotted time, how I should handle emails when I'm not in the CNBD, and made sure we were all on the same page when it came to emailing, scheduling families, and calling families and returning voicemails. Next, I worked on returning emails, and scheduling a few families who had emailed me back. I also went through the calendar to be sure that I had all of the correct family ID numbers in. Then I met with Megan and Anita both, since Anita will soon be on maternity leave to discuss scheduling between Megan and I. After our meeting, I emailed the next set of families who need to be scheduled for their three month sessions. I had to figure out times that would work for all of them to come in on the calendar. Then I checked to voicemails, and returned a phone call from a mom who had her baby and wanted to schedule her two week session. I did not get a hold of her, but I left her days and times she could come in on her voicemail. Hopefully she will call back with a time she can come in. I also scheduled a mom who had her baby, and notified us via email. She is going to come in one day earlier than we'd like, however she has limited availability and can only make it in on Monday and Friday morning.
Today I helped Rachel with a couple of things on the PDEF study. I called for a little while, and then continued to work on data entry for the rest of my time. I really enjoyed learning data entry, because it gives me further insight into the actual running of the sessions. It was nice to learn how to do a different activity than calling, to further broaden my knowledge of the workings of the lab.
Today, I worked on some data entry and calculations for the Infant Feeding Study. We found a much easier and efficient way to do our calculations with the use of Excel. I calculated the percent caloric intake for the Taste Perception task for each family that has come in for the 3-month visit so far. We have decided to stop recruiting since our deadline is approaching very quickly and we have not had much recent success with enrolling families. We are thus in somewhat of a transition stage between heavy recruiting and heavy data entry; it is interesting to be more exposed to other aspects of the study!
I was supposed to have two participants come to lab today for the SRF study, unfortunately they had to call to cancel at the last minute. Thus, I spent most of my time in lab today setting up for the research session and subsequently packing everything back up again. I was an hour shy this week on hours, because of the session cancellation, but I'll just make it up with future sessions, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Now that my voice is back, next week I'll be able to call and schedule participants for after Spring break. The schedule for room 85 is starting to get pretty busy with the new studies taking place in the same room, so I'll definitely have to stay ahead of the game with scheduling to make sure that I can fit sessions into my schedule. I don't expect that to be a problem though. I have a feeling that it might start to get pretty difficult to get participant now that we've almost made it through the entire list of children, so we'll just have to see how it goes!
Today I helped out with miscellaneous tasks in the lab. First, I started checking completed card boxes for EFM, and fixed a few cards that were out of place. After that, I watched a few videos of EFM and scored them on the scoring sheets. I really enjoyed doing something different in lab today, and it was really cool to actually see the videos of the kids playing the games.
Today I helped out with miscellaneous tasks in the lab. First, I started checking completed card boxes for EFM, and fixed a few cards that were out of place. After that, I watched a few videos of EFM and scored them on the scoring sheets. I really enjoyed doing something different in lab today, and it was really cool to actually see the videos of the kids playing the games.
When I came into the lab Cathy was out, so I finished entering the rest of the data (6 participants) for PDEF. Then I asked Sam if there was anything else I could work on, and she told me I could do some calling for PDEF. I was able to schedule two 5.5-year-old girls to come in next week. I emailed both families Welcome Packets.
Today I called for the BMI study. I returned calls for 3 families and was unable to get a hold of any of the parents. I also went back through the calling list and called about 50 families that I had previously left messages for. All of the parents that I was able to get a hold of were unfortunately screened out!
I came in this morning and started calling parents for Wendy's Delay Choice Flexibility Study. I was able to schedule a couple of parents. They sounded very excited about joining the study. I put their information on the calendar, the call log, and appointment log. I was unable to get onto the server for the email. I tried contacting Wendy by phone, and then by email through my account. I emailed her the information of the parents that needed to receive the email information and also informed her of another parent that was interested in the study but was unable to be reached until this afternoon.
