HW2 | Intro to Usable Sec. and Priv. (Fall 2024)

HW 2: Practice Running a Study

In this homework, you will practice taking surveys and running your own basic, quantitative survey. You will also practice analyzing the data.

Note that Part 2 and 3 are group assignments, and you will need to form Blackboad groups to submit.

You should upload three seperate PDF files to blackboard, one for each part of the assignment.

Where [LAST-NAME] is replaced with your last name (including replacing the []), [GWID] is replaced with your GWID (including replacing the []). Note that your GWID should include the G portion (as a capital letter).

Part -1 (0 Points): Request a Qualtrics account from SEAS

Not a requirement of this assignment, but you should [submit a ticket] to request a Qualtrics account from SEAS. It’s free and can be used for many parts of this class.

We have submitted a request on behalf of the class to get everyone Qualtrics accounts. You do not ned to submit your own request. If you need additional support contact support@ticket.seas.gwu.edu.

Part 0 (10 Points): Complete the CITI Training (REQUIRED!)

Complete the online Human Subjects Protection Training Requirement by following the instructions at the GW Office of Human Research. You should complete the Social & Behavioral Research course. Whence complete, include a copy of your certificate in your submission for Part 0.

Part 1 (20 points): Take two surveys

We’ve discussed a lot about how to conduct ecologically valid user studies, but you should also experience it from the other side – and you can make some pocket change along the way. Sign up for prolific using your personal email address (not your GW) email address.

Once you do so, you should finish the following tasks:

  1. Complete the introduction study (this is required by prolific)

  2. Go to the “About You” page fill in the Basic demographic variables, the geographic variables, and education.

  3. Complete at least two studies advertised under studies.

For submission, you must include two screenshots:

  1. A screenshot of the About You page showing you completed the screening questions.

  2. A screenshot of the Submissions page show you completed two studies

Finally, you should submit a paragraph describe some reflections from participating in these studies and how it may affect how you conduct studies.

Sometimes, you don’t get access to new studies right away on prolific. If you do not, you can also go to redit’s r/samplesize which there are many studies posted. You can take two studies there.

Part 2 (50 points): Run your own survey

This part of the homework assignment you will create a survey that you and your classmates will complete to generate sample data. You should form groups of 2-3 to complete this assignment.

Running a study on Prolific

To do this, one of your team members need to sign up for a second prolific account. This time use your GW email address, and register as a requester. Be sure to read the instructions carefully as there is easy integration with Qualtrics and other surfey forms.

Note this survey should cost you about $50 split between your group members (less than the cost of a textbook), but if this is a financial burden for you. Please let me know ASAP. No group should spend more than $50 to complete this HW.

Based on the research prompt below, you should target less than 10 minute survey paying $3, for a $20 per hour rate. With overheads for prolific (33%), your total cost per participant is ~$4. If you get 12 participants, that would ~$50. Be sure to pre-test your survey to verify that it takes <10 minutes.

Ethical Treatment

As your study is being conducted for educational purposes and not for generalize knowledge, you do not have to get IRB approval. However, the expectation is that you conduct your study with the same level of care as if you had approval. This includes:

  1. Treating all participants ethically and fairly
  2. Providing confidentiality linking personal information of participants to data.
  3. Informing participants that they are participating in a research project for a class.
  4. If deception was used, providing post-procedure information to participants

Additionally, prolific has additional rules for their service which requires researchers to not collect any identifiable information, such as full names and email addresses. Further, you may avoid collecting demographic information if participants pre-fill out the About You section.

Study Topic

All the study topics will focus on issues around privacy, but each team should choose a slightly different area. Also, the study should be primarily quantitative – questions should be Likert or closed responses – but you should also include at least 2-3 questions that are open response. This will help with your data quality.

Please select from the following topics:

Your survey should include:

When designing your survey, you should consider the associate anaylsis as you want to make sure you can complete it!

What to submit

For Part 2, you should submit the survey questions you used and the methods you used to collect your data.

Part 3 (20 points): Analyze your results

You should prepare a short report, in the form of a slide deck, that describes the basic results of your study. You will submit this as part of your group as a PDF per the naming instructions for Part 3.