Many universities that offer a degree in psychology have a profound focus on research in the discipline. This is due to the money generated from such research, the provision of jobs, the desire to enhance current scientific knowledge, and to provide inspiration and excitement for students. As a result, the most common way of recruiting participants is through requesting that psychology students participate in exchange for course credits, money, or valuable experience (Sears, 1986). However, as beneficial as this may be, some have argued that the use of psychology students for psychological research is somewhat inappropriate.
The clear advantage for researchers in the use of psychology students is the pure fact that they are easily obtainable. If the university requires students to partake in studies in exchange for course credits, the majority of students will do so, thus providing a large pool of potential participants for research. This means that researchers are able to avoid the challenging task of finding outside participants, therefore saving copious amounts of time and energy. Furthermore, a researcher is far more likely to obtain a larger number of participants through recruiting psychology students, which will result in the data obtained being more reliable, internally valid, and potentially more significant. In addition, psychology students are generally (although there are exceptions) offered course credits as opposed to money for participating in experiments. If participants from outside the university were recruited they would usually be paid for doing so. Using students instead of these outside participants provides the researcher with less expenditures and an increased likelihood of being able to conduct experiments without the restrictions of resources and money.
In addition, the use of psychology students for research is not just beneficial for the researcher; it is also extremely constructive for the students themselves. Indeed, it has been reported that the student provides the researcher with data and in return, the researcher offers the student with worthwhile knowledge (Sieber & Saks, 1989). Although none of us particularly enjoy the arduous task of completing seven hours’ worth of experiments every semester, I doubt many could argue the fact that we have been able to learn a lot through participation. Indeed, after experiencing a few studies I decided that I would like to enter into a career in psychological research. Undergraduate psychology students are able to gain important first-hand experience in the methods researchers use when undertaking research. This is vital due to the fact that students are able to gain a clearer understanding of how to conduct successful experiments, which should prove to be imperative in the research that they undertake throughout their undergraduate degree. Furthermore, partaking in research can inspire students to further study a particular notion that they found interesting, or indeed enthuse them to such an extent whereby they aspire to follow a career path in psychology.
Conversely, it has been reported that when having to participate in an experiment in order to gain course credits, psychology students can find the process “boring” and “a waste of time” (Coulter, 1986). I can identify with this point to a degree, as often experiments can prove to be time-consuming and merely involve pressing keys on a computer keyboard for what seems like days. However, the fact still remains that being involved in others’ research provides eager students with knowledge that cannot possibly be obtained through purely attending lectures.
The main argument against the use of psychology students for psychological research is the issue of demand characteristics. There is no use in denying the fact that this is a significant problem, with many students demonstrating the behaviour that they believe that the researcher would like to observe (Orne, 1962). I know from participating in previous experiments that it is often obvious what the experimenter is investigating. This leaves the student with the dilemma of whether to change their behaviour or attempt to continue in spite of the additional knowledge. I would personally like to think that in all of the circumstances where I have become aware of the aims of the study, I have continued without letting this information confound the results. However, in reality there must have been times where I have subconsciously let this information affect my behaviour in the tasks. One way of overcoming this potential obstacle is to ask the participants whether they had any suspicions during the study of what being investigating. This can be done when debriefing the participants and the researcher can choose whether to remove that participant from the data based on their answer.
Another critical issue with the use of psychology students in research is the lack of generalizability that can occur. Students are more often than not highly intelligent, from middle to high socioeconomic backgrounds, and aged between 18 and 22 (Pols, 2005). Part of the importance of research is that it can promote findings that have a significant impact on society. There are obviously studies that focus on particular clinical attributes so do not necessarily require participants who can be generalised to society as a whole, other than in situations whereby a control group is also being used. However, many studies are conducted with all individuals in society as the population that they are concerned in investigating. The use of psychology students, limits the generalizability of the study due to the boundaries in characteristics that are present. In spite of this, the current student body in the UK is changing dramatically due to the increased acceptance of students from working class homes, the levels of funding available for those from poorer backgrounds, and the steady rise of mature students studying for degrees later in life. Some would argue that these changes do not significantly increase the generalizability of the student population to the general population. However, the fact remains that many non-students who volunteer for experiments are intelligent and from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, thus meaning that there is the same problem of reduced ecological validity even with non-student participants.
In conclusion, the use of psychology students in psychological investigations can sometimes be potentially detrimental to the experiment due to demand characteristics and lack of generalizability (and perhaps the increased likelihood of hungover participants). However, the fact remains that using psychology students can be extremely beneficial for both the researcher and the student. This argument is fundamental as it could potentially change the way that we conduct research and achieve significant results, but at this current time, the use of psychology students seems to be the most ideal way to collect data. Indeed, the procedures used when testing psychology students could be tightened, for example asking the participants if they guessed what was happening in the experiment, but ultimately it the most effective use of researchers time, money, and resources, and should be welcomed and appreciated as a strong method of recruiting participants.
nat1990psych 
Hi 🙂 Very relevant blog topic here, I agree with you that psychology students do seem an ideal way to collect data, there is a lot of us, readily available and its a course requirement for first and second years. But as you’ve discussed in your blog, picking from the same population will make the sample, although convenient, poorly representative of the general population, making generalisabilty a problem. Being psychology students we are also taught all about the experimental situation so are more informed than an average member of the public about what the researcher may be looking for and although not purposefully may be susceptible to demand characteristics.
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A very good blog topic to choose, and one which not a lot of others have chosen so thank you for a little difference 🙂
I personally believe that there are many advantages and disadvantages to psychology students participating in psychological studies. The advantage to include (which I know you have) is the relevant experience we need as undergraduate students. Not only can we see what to expect for our own research next year but we could also benefit from knowing how to possibly improve the study, what else could possibly be further tested etc. For many students that I know, they did not know that the experiments were done in such a scientific way and so it proved to be an eye opener for them.
However, the disadvantages are many. Although we are all so easily obtained, any fellow researcher could look at the participants and comment on how it did hold an element of “forced participation”. This is a comment I picked up from a psychologist in the clinical health field, who stated that “yes the number of participants are significant, but if they were to avoid taking part they would be disciplined by an authority figure and punished by not receiving a grade”. To us this is an obvious statement, however he holds a point, and this in itself can have a significant effect on the results obtained. If we take part simply because we need our SONA points to earn extra credit in our research skills component, then some of our data will surely not be 100% representative. Many students give the answers they feel will help complete the study asap which ultimately affects the results of the study.
A great blog and an excellent point raised. Psychology students do in fact save money for university research, possibly research that would not be able to be studied if payment were to be made to a member of the public. But i do believe that a lot of the results are not true findings that can be generalized to the population, as you have said the majority of students (except for me) are aged between 18 – 22 and more often than not highly intelligent, this does not generalize to the population only to University students. I often wonder if these experiments are just a way for the University to get the third years through their degree as i find some of them totally pointless and a waste of time. I have participated in some incredibly boring and mind numbing experiments that surely have no real value or meaning. On the other hand i have participated in some very interesting experiments that i have been very keen on learning the outcome for. When picking my project proposal last semester, i was adamant i did not want to be party to Sona, I have heard many researchers complain that they have been let down by students not turning up, or turning up hungover for experiments, that they have had to try and recruit more students just so they can finish their projects. This must be very stressful for them as they are on deadlines. I think it would be a great idea to generalize the participation to the local college as well as other University students, that way they have more of a mix and age of participants.
This was a very interesting blog, and extremely relevant to our current year!!! I agree with your blog and comments, and a question I asked myself at the end was “do the benefits outweigh the negatives in relation to this question?”!!!! And personally considering the big picture I would have to say yes. Although as I am writing this and considering the negatives, I wonder why, for there are many. Students evidently provide most data for psychological research, and in return we are rewarded with course and printer credits, but most importantly insight and knowledge. From a personal perspective, some studies which I have taken part of, have captured my interest, and have thereafter sought further information and understanding on the subject under study. I imagine this would be true for many. As you state, the negative side to this, is that we also undertake studies of no personal interest, but because we have to, which we find boring and a waste of time. This brings reliability and validity of research under question, as it raises possible confounding variables such as order effects and from an ethical viewpoint forced participation. It is clear that student research is for convenience hence a biased sample and hard to generalise to the whole population. But the situation is not hopless, although convenience sampling is considered a weak form of sampling, it is one that is used more often, and this is because there often is no other alternative. As you state it saves money and it is also easier and saves time. There are strategies to deal with drawbacks, and the most important one is that the research states who the participants were, therefore this ensures that everyone is aware of what the sample is and individuals can make their own conclusions in reference to validity, reliability and representativeness. Considering this, without universities and student participation scientific progress and research would not have reached where it is today, for most research would not have taken place, and if researchers address problems of biased samples and confounding variables we still gain knowledge and understanding, and yes maybe they are biased, we can still apply to the representative population, even more so these days with the structure of students more representative than it was 30 years ago.
Good blog, it is very beneficial for psychology students to do research as when they then go to do the research they are rewarded. Also they are never forced into it as other alternatives are provided to get the credits however its better to do a few experiments then write another essay
I do agree with all the concepts you have presented on your post. They’re very convincing and can certainly work. Still, the posts are too brief for novices. May you please extend them a little from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.