Online parenting studies: Research you can participate in

Want to participate in research? Studies posted here are being conducted by researchers in the behavioral and cognitive sciences.

As a rule, each project has been approved by a college or university ethics board. However, before you participate, you should always read the information carefully to make sure you are comfortable with the terms of the study. This information will be provided after you follow the link to the study’s URL.

Help researchers (and track your baby’s development) by filling out this online questionnaire

Are you the parent of a biological child between the ages of 1-24 months? Or are you pregnant?

If so, Professor Maurice Feldman and his colleagues (at Brock University and the Université de Montréal) would be interested in your participation in their research. They need parents to fill out an online questionnaire called the Parent Observation Checklist (POC). As the research team explains:

“The POC consists of 61 items about your child’s development and behaviors. It takes about 15-20 minutes to complete it. We ask participants to complete the POC monthly until the child is 3 years old, but it is fine if a parent prefer to complete it less frequently. We will send participants a brief report about their child’s development after approximately three POC’s are completed. The multidisciplinary research team includes psychologists with expertise in child development.”

I provide more information on this Parenting Science page. Alternatively, you can learn more by navigating directly to the study page on Professor Feldman’s lab website.

Fathering questionnaire: Thoughts about the upbringing and motor skills of babies

Dear Dads, you’re invited to participate in an online research study! I am Parker Fairfield, a student researcher working in the Infant Development Lab, directed by Dr. Sabrina Thurman. We are located in the Psychology Department at Elon University, North Carolina, and currently conducting an online study to understand more about how first-time fathers interact with their infants, and how those fathers’ behaviors and habits impact infant motor development. To be eligible for the study, you must be a first-time father of an infant aged 1 to 10 months and live in the USA.

Fathers will be asked to participate in a Zoom interview with a student researcher, which should take around 30-45 minutes. After the interview, fathers will be invited to complete an online survey, which can be filled out in about 30 minutes on the participant’s own time. Participants will be compensated for their time and engagement in both parts of the study. 

Dads who participate may enjoy reflecting on their baby’s development, which could inspire them to learn more about their child’s behaviors. In addition, our findings will help clinicians understand fathers’ beliefs and practices related to infant motor development, and the impact those beliefs may have on the effectiveness of interventions and subsequently infants’ motor development.

Participant data will be kept confidential and stored in secure locations housed by Elon University. We are committed to ensuring the privacy and safety of all involved in our research. 

If you are interested in participating, please visit our website to provide your contact information: Infant Development Lab – Father PB-MD/MOHAB (google.com). If you have additional questions or concerns, you may also contact us at [email protected]


Feelings, behavior, and sleep during the pandemic

Rebecca Hazen, Melissa Rafferty, and their colleagues at Case Western Reserve University are interested in learning about “children and families’ adjustment related to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly social contact, sleep, and emotions.”

For this purpose, they want to recruit study participants who fall into one of these two categories:

  • “English-speaking parent of a child age 7-17 with cleft lip, cleft palate, or cleft lip and palate who does not have autism and/or a significant developmental or cognitive delay”; OR
  • “English-speaking parent of a child age 7-17 who does not have any major medical or developmental concerns.”

Participation consists of filling out an online questionnaire, which will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. As the researchers note:

“Some of the questions we will ask may be upsetting, or you may feel uncomfortable answering them. This discomfort is expected to be temporary, and if you do not wish to answer a question, you may skip it. You may also withdraw from the study at any time by exiting the study.”

The researchers pledge to keep your answers anonymous. To learn more about participation, including confidentiality, follow this link:

https://redcap.link/a1lyz7rf

Content last modified 3/30/23