Plymouth Baby Lab
Frequently asked questions
If you have a question that is not answered below you can ask us directly using the telephone number or email address on the contacts page. We will attempt to get back to you as soon as possible.
Will I be paid for taking part?
Will I be paid travel expenses?
What about confidentiality and data protection?
Will I get feedback on how my child has done?
How long will I need to stay at the baby lab?
When will I visit the baby lab?
What if I can’t continue or I change my mind?
How will my child’s data be used?
Have staff been police checked to work with children?
Are you going to use any invasive equipment?
How do I get to the baby lab? Detailed directions and a list of possible transport options is available on our Directions page.
Will I be paid for taking part?
Unfortunately we do not have the budget to pay people to take part in the project. There are also ethical guidelines which prevent us from doing so, as payment could be viewed as a means of exploiting the children taking part in the project. We can offer you tea and coffee at the baby lab and issue every baby taking part with a baby scientist certificate as a thank you for taking part.
Will I be paid travel expenses?
Yes. We will pay for your parking and your bus fare, for up to £4. But you can choose one of our customised Babylab t-shirts for your child instead. Please contact us if you are having problems getting to the baby lab as we may be able to help.
What about confidentiality and data protection?
We do not share your information with any outside parties. Personal details we do keep (such as names, addresses and telephone numbers) will be confidentially and securely stored. We may ask if we can contact you on more than one occasion so that you and your child can take part in other baby lab studies.
Will I get feedback on how my child has done?
We are unable to give individual feedback as the testers are not always trained to interpret the children’s performance. It is also very hard to tell how a child has performed until we have analysed the data or observed an interaction in different scores. However we will provide you with all the information we can at the time of testing, including details on what we are looking for and what we expect to find. Also, in July every year, we send you a newsletter, and we compile the results of all the studies we have done on our website.
What will we be asked to do?
Full descriptions of what you will be asked to do are available on the Descriptions of studies page.
How long will I need to stay?
Testing is unlikely to take more than an hour at the most. This includes chatting with you about the studies, warm up exercises and testing. Given that we are just opposite Drake Circus, it would give you the perfect opportunity for a nice shopping experience before or after your visit.
When will I visit the baby lab?
This will depend on how old your child is and what study’s are currently running at the baby lab. We would try and give you plenty of advance warning before asking you to come into the clinic and we will arrange a time and date to suit you.
What if I can’t continue or I change my mind?
That’s fine. You have the right to withdraw from the project at any point and to have your name and contact details taken off the database. If you decide half way through a session that you wish to leave, that is well within your rights and will not pose a problem.
How will my child’s data be used?
The data gathered at the baby lab will be used to feed into research and ultimately published research papers, produced by staff in the School of Psychology. The children’s individual data is anonymous and names are not used when storing information.
Do you have ethical approval?
Yes. All Studies using the baby lab will have received full ethical approval from the Faculty of Science Ethics Board. This means that the children’s happiness and wellbeing has been considered above and before the need for the research.
Have staff been police checked to work with children?
Yes. All staff working with the children at the baby lab will have undertaken a criminal records bureau check to ensure that they are safe and suitable to work with children.
Are you going to use any invasive equipment?
No. Most of our experiments measure head or eye orientation time, which means we will only be measuring how long you child spends looking in a certain direction. In other experiments we simply record where your child points. As stated, above all the studies using the baby lab have gained ethical approval from the Faculty of Science ethics board which would not approve studies which pose any risk or potential discomfort to infants.
© 2007 Plymouth Baby Lab.