Recruitment Training
Table of contents
- Recruitment and Customer Service Training
- Vocabulary
- Terminology for Describing the Technology
- Recruitment Specialist Tips
- Experimenter Tips
Recruitment and Customer Service Training
It is important to recognize we are asking parents to do us a huge favor to have their infant/children contribute to science. We want to convey this excitement and gratitude while recruiting for their (potential) participation i.e. through your verbal communication skills.
Be positive and friendly on the phone – representing the lab We need to ensure they understand and are comfortable with what we are saying. How we say things plays a big part in whether parents choose to participate or not so think about how you would like someone to ask you to do a favour and what would influence your decision.
- Refer to the parent and child by name in the system
- Only contact parents during working hours – ie. 9:30 am-6:30 pm
- If parents ask a question and you don’t know the answer ask them to hold and ask someone who might know, or tell them you will note it down and get back to them either through phone or email (don’t make up an answer)
Practice before calling!
Vocabulary
Remember that parents are unlikely experts in psychology. Science jargon that we often used to describe our work may sound very strange to them. To effectively communicate with parents, please pay attention to the words and expressions used in your conversations with them.
Here are a few examples for you to prepare your conversations:
| Words to AVOID | Preferred words & expressions |
|---|---|
| Experiment | Studies, Project, Game, etc |
| Discriminate | Tell the difference between… |
| Assessment | Measure |
| Research subject | Participant |
| Infant habituation | A perceptual task |
| Stimuli | Face images, Vocal sounds, etc |
| Measure performance | Record how long they look at a picture on the screen…. |
| Test your baby | Your child will see/hear…. |
| … | … |
Terminology for Describing the Technology
The eye-tracker and nirs technology can be intimidating to parents. We want caregivers to feel comfortable with all aspects of the study and technology. It is important to explain the technologies using simple language in a way that is easily understood and non-threatening, avoiding scientific jargon.
EYE-TRACKER
Caregiver friendly description:
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The eye-tracker is a specical camera that takes pictures of the infants eye movements. We can use these pictures to predict where the baby will look. It helps us understand what infants prefer to look at.
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The sticker for the infant’s forehead helps the eye-tracker locate where the infants eyes are on the camera.
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The eye-tracker does not physically touch the infant at any point.
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Caregivers can withdraw consent to participate at any time.
NIRS
Caregiver friendly description:
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NIRS uses near-infrared light that helps us understand what is happening in the brain. Small and safe sensors are placed on the head to see how the brain is responding. NIRS is completely painless and harmless. The technology is similar to how an apple watch tracks your heartrate and movement. You can imagine the cap as having a bunch of small apple watch sensors.
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There are pads inside the cap to make it comfortable for the baby.
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Caregivers can withdraw consent to participate at any time.
Avoid saying… the word laser or making it sound invasive (nirs is a non-invasive technique)
Recruitment Specialist Tips
Review this document for tips, experimenter materials, and FAQs about recruitment: Recruitment Specialist Tips
Experimenter Tips
Review this document for experimenter tips, materials, and FAQs: Experimenter Tips