Each year, nonprofits, small businesses, schools, and faith-based organizations all over the world celebrate the global day of giving. 

This Giving Tuesday, please consider donating to the Department of Psychology’s Crowdfunding Campaign to support the purchase of online research tools for students.  The COVID pandemic has limited our researchers’ ability to conduct in-person research studies and so our department is working hard to make sure students are not missing key opportunities to participate in psychological science firsthand.

It would mean a lot to us if you would take a moment today, or any time before the end of the year, to support this opportunity for our students to continue their research pursuits in a safe online environment. 

The COVID pandemic and resultant closures have limited some of the ways in which psychological science can be conducted−bringing research participants into a room and conducting experiments can be challenging while maintaining safe distances. 

Our students have met this challenge head on. 

Lucas Hamilton, a fifth-year doctoral student in the Adult Development and Aging Ph.D. Program, had COVID closure experiences shared by many of our students, “my dissertation was planned to be conducted on-campus in the ACE Laboratory. I was getting ready to propose when CSU went all-virtual as COVID-19 restrictions began. My timeline was altered greatly as I spent all summer reworking my project.” Lucas’ dissertation is now happening completely online via Qualtrics by using their services to administer surveys and collect data on people’s emotional reactions to film clips.  Lucas’ research is back on track and he began collecting data this October. 

Bethany Cox, a second-year Masters student, was concerned that the COVID closure would threaten her ability to complete her research and graduate on time, "As the COVID closure continued for weeks longer than was originally anticipated, I was forced to reconsider how I would conduct my thesis now that conducting research in person might not be a safe option.”

Bethany has since moved her work to Labvanced, which has allowed her to keep the basic structure of her thesis, while providing an opportunity to safely conduct her research.  After much work, Bethany was able to stay on schedule and is expected to graduate on time.

The Department of Psychology is proud of our adaptive and persistent students and we look forward to providing greater access to these tools for online research to all of our faculty and student researchers.  However, these new platforms are costly.  We hope that you’ll join the rest of our donors and give to our 2020 Crowdfunding Campaign, so that COVID won’t get in the way of psychological science here at Cleveland State University.

The Department of Psychology at Cleveland State University believes that substantial educational benefits come from student engagement in research-related activity. Students can take advantage of the opportunity to participate in ongoing research studies in order to learn about the process of conducting psychological science and to prepare for more advanced study, graduate programs, or professional research settings.

However, The COVID pandemic has limited our researchers’ ability to conduct in-person research studies and so our department is working hard to make sure students are not missing key opportunities to participate in psychological science firsthand.

Consequently, the Department of Psychology is making an investment in online research tools and in the video below, one of our graduate students explains the importance of these tools to her research. 

To support these efforts, we’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign to help cover these expenses. You can learn more about of campaign and make a donation by using this link:  https://csuohio.scalefunder.com/cfund/project/22582.