fund a project by myself

[longforit]

I'm doing my M.A. thesis research, which is a psychological experiment and that means--pay the participants. The expense is estimated $400-$500 and I will cover 60% of it by myself. I just want to ask is it common to fund one's own project (with relatively big budget) or usually there is fund sources (I have my program cover about 40% of it but I still need to pay hundreds), or it just varies from school to school. Not complaint. Just curious. 

 

Comments?

[bsharpe269]

Definitely not common... The money should probably come from your PI's grant money.

[zipykido]

That seems like a huge conflict of interest, the money should come from a grant or your PI.

[Lisa44201]

Good gosh, no. Students in many places get course credit (Intro to Psychology) for participating in research studies. That, or they get extra credit. I applied for a small University grant for my Master's thesis, but that went to things like cost of materials, photocopying, etc.

[longforit]

Thanks guys! But since it's my MA thesis and it's kind of independent from the research in my advisor's lab (she's still the PI of the project though), and I'll leave for PhD in another place, I guess I couldn't get funds from the lab.

 

 

That seems like a huge conflict of interest, the money should come from a grant or your PI.

 

Could you explain a little why it's conflict of interest? So it's actually an against-rule practice in doing research? (neither my PI nor the director of my program have mentioned that to me..)

[zipykido]

Thanks guys! But since it's my MA thesis and it's kind of independent from the research in my advisor's lab (she's still the PI of the project though), and I'll leave for PhD in another place, I guess I couldn't get funds from the lab.

 

 

 

Could you explain a little why it's conflict of interest? So it's actually an against-rule practice in doing research? (neither my PI nor the director of my program have mentioned that to me..)

 

I guess if the research isn't published in a peer reviewed research journal it wouldn't matter too much. Generally if you have a financially vested interest in your research succeeding or failing that would be considered a conflict of research. It must be disclosed in your paper but generally doesn't affect the paper too much.

[rising_star]

Publishing isn't the only concern. Your institution's IRB and human subjects committee, which you will need approval from to do this research if it's for a degree, is going to ask if you plan to pay participants and how. They will have reservations about you using your own money.

[longforit]

My IRB application was approved and I didn't mentioned in it where the money would be from (I didn't know back then. I thought I could secure some funds from my program or the grad school). But since you mentioned it, I was wondering if I'd encountered problems when setting up the payment process? If it does happen, I might need to go back to my PI anyway.. But I doubt if I'd get anything helpful...

[longforit]

Now I got real setbacks when I came to our business office to set up the payment account. Turns out it's true I cannot pay out of my own pocket.  And my PI hasn't replied my request for grants, which usually means a "no way".  

What should I do? I might wait until tomorrow to consult with our DGS what I can do under such circumstances. I'm really afraid my project would be stuck. 

[bsharpe269]

Can you look into ways to reduce the cost of the study or talk to a teacher about offering extra credit instead of money?

[fuzzylogician]

First talk things out with your PI. If she is your advisor on the project she should help you secure the funding for it. At least she should be able to talk to you about possible solutions. If she can't help, the next thing I would do is try and talk to her other students and see if the more experienced ones can tell you about how participants are usually recruited or if this has happened in the past (and how the situation was resolved). With this knowledge and if you can't complete studies that are important for your MA research, I might talk to someone else in the program such as the DGS or department head. Ask about ways in which the department might support your research. Maybe there is some money you can apply for or just get for your studies. Departments often have small pots of money that can be had for such purposes. Then if you are getting no support at all I would start looking into ways of recruiting participants who will do the experiment for no pay, for example in exchange for class credit or for nothing at all. I'm really surprised that your advisor is not helping you with any of these steps; if this is normal operating procedure for her, you might be able to get advice from her other students about how they deal with it. And you'll know better what questions to ask to make sure you have a more involved advisor for your PhD.