Zoom Call Script
- This script is to give you an idea on how you should approach talking to parents once you've logged in to zoom and participants show up. (You should log in 5-10 minutes before the appointment and ideally you are all prepped with the study materials).
When the participants log on and seem ready (camera and sound on), go over the spiel (with the appropriate pauses):
If parent is around:
"Hi! How's it going? Thank you for being here on time today! Before we get started, do you have any questions for me about the paperwork you filled out? (if they have a question you don't know how to answer say that you will be reaching out to them with an answer in our Thank you! email). Great! So today we are going to play X amount of games which should take around X minutes (or 1 hour). I will get us started with the first game and then I will go ahead and pass it onto my friend for the next one (if there is another RA present). I wanted to let you know that in this game we only want [child's name]'s answers, so you're more than welcome to watch with them, but refrain from helping them in any way. Does that sounds good? Ok we are all ready to start."
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If the child is 7+ years then go ahead and say the Child Assent Script to them.
If participant logs in and their camera is off:
"Hi! How's it going? (making sure they are able to hear you). Are you able to turn your camera on? Is totally ok if you don't feel comfortable me recording our session today; however, I do need to see [child's name] before we start playing any games today."
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If they do turn their camera on thats great! and start the spiel as above.
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If they express they are not able to turn their camera on because of technical difficulties (e.g. not knowing how to) then guide them through it depending on the device they are using. See blank page for more information.
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However, if they say they can't turn their camera on because of any other reason (meaning not willing to turn it on) then thank them for their time, but you aren't able to proceed any further.
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This last point can be used as a last resource and RAs can make an executive decision if they believe there is a child present. Meaning that they can continue with the study and then doublecheck afterwards.
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Scheduling Script
“Hi, this is [your name] calling from the Development of Social Cognition Lab at UC-Irvine. May I speak to [parent name]?”
Parent: “That’s me/Let me get them.”
“How are you doing today?”
Parent: “Fine / I’m good.”
If we’ve NEVER run a study with them before:
If we recruited them through email/phone: “You contacted us via [email/phone] letting us know that you were interested in participating in our research and actually your child [child name] is the perfect age right now for one of our studies. Would you be willing to bring them in to participate?”
If we recruited them from museum/preschool/park: “We’ve met and talked to you about our lab at [where we recruited them from] and actually your child [child name] is the perfect age right now for one of our studies. Would you be willing to bring them in to participate?”
If we’ve run a study with them before: “We’ve played with your child, [child name], before at [where previous study was run] and actually [child name] is the perfect age right now for another one of our studies. Would you be willing to bring them in to participate?”
If we’ve run a study with their sibling before: “We’ve played with your child/children, [sibling name], before at [where previous study was run] and actually, their sibling [child name] is the perfect age right now for another one of our studies. Would you be willing to bring them in to participate?”
If they want to know more: Our lab explores how children learn about and behave in the social worlds around them. All studies take the form of short games (e.g., a story, game, or video) and take between 15-45 minutes (but we budget in a full hour so that you have time to get settled, ask questions, fill out paperwork, and so that your child has time to play and explore our lab). We reimburse your parking expenses and your child will be given a small gift as a thank you for playing with us. You are welcome to bring your other children and we have one-way mirrored observation so that you can watch your child as s/he participates.
If NO:
Parents busy/working on weekdays:
If there are In-Lab Openings on weekends: “Of course, I understand. I want to let you know that we do have some availability on weekends if that works better for you.”
If still no/RAs unavailable: “I understand. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Have a great day!”
Not interested/can’t bring them into lab:
“I understand. We would love to have your child participate in one of our other studies in the future. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Have a great day!”
Unavailable/moved away:
“I understand. Would you like your family to be removed from our list of available participants? Alright great! Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Have a great day!”
If YES:
“That’s great! Are there any days that work best for you this week or next week?”
Parent: “Yes. These days.”
If there are In-Lab Openings: “That’s perfect! How does [day] at [time] work?”
If that doesn’t work: “That’s fine; does [day] at [time] work better for you?”
If there are no In-Lab Openings: “I’m sorry; it looks like we don’t have any available openings on those days. Would you be able to come in on [day] instead?”
If that doesn’t work: “That’s fine; are there any other days you would be able to come in?”
Once date and time are set:
“Alright, so we’ll see you and [child name] on [day, date] at [time]. We’ll send you an email with the directions to our lab and parking details. Let me double-check the email that we have on file for you. Is it [address@email.com]?
Parent: “Yes/No, it's..."
Great! And will any siblings be joining us on this day?
Parent: “Yes/No"
Alright. And lastly, would you like our phone number just in case?
Parent: “Yes” It’s (949) 824-4738. OR Parent: “No/I have it already/Is it the number you're calling from?” Okay.
Please give us a call and let us know if you need to cancel or reschedule for any reason. We’ll see you and [child’s name] on [day, date] at [time]. Thank you and have a great day!”
Recruitment Voicemail Script
We voicemails for parents if they fail to pick up their phone three times in a row.
“Hi, this is [your name] calling from the Development of Social Cognition Lab at UC-Irvine. I'm calling to speak to [parent name].
If we’ve NEVER run a study with them before:
If we recruited them through email/phone: “You contacted us via [email/phone] letting us know that you were interested in participating in our research and actually your child [child name] is the perfect age right now for one of our studies.
If we recruited them from museum/preschool/park: “We’ve met and talked to you about our lab at [where we recruited them from] and actually your child [child name] is the perfect age right now for one of our studies.
If we’ve run a study with them before: “We’ve played with your child, [child name], before at [where previous study was run] and actually [child name] is the perfect age right now for another one of our studies.
If we’ve run a study with their sibling before: “We’ve played with your child/children, [sibling name], before at [where previous study was run] and actually, their sibling [child name] is the perfect age right now for another one of our studies.
If you would be interested in bringing them in to our lab to participate in a study, or want to know more about our current studies, please give us a call back at (949) 824-4738. That's (949) 824-4738. Thank you!
Confirmation Call Script
“Hi, this is [your name] calling from the Development of Social Cognition Lab at UC-Irvine. May I speak to [parent name]?”
Parent: “That’s me/Let me get them.”
"How are you doing today?”
Parent: “Fine / I’m good.”
“I’m calling to confirm our appointment with [child name] on [day, date] at [time]. Does that time still work for you?”
Parent: “Yes.”
“Great. And did you receive the directions we sent to your email address?”
Parent: “Yes.”
“Alright. You can also look up the directions and the addresses for parking and the lab on our website at any time.”
Parent: “No.”
“Alright, let me quickly double-check your email and I'll send it to you right away. Is it [address@email.com]? “Yes.” You can also look up the directions and the addresses for parking and the lab on our website at any time.”
Parent: “Okay.”
“Okay. So we'll see you and [child name] on [day, date] at [time]. Have a great day!”
Parent: “No, that time doesn't work anymore.”
“That’s fine; are there any other days you would be able to come in?” >> [Follow Scheduling Script > If YES]
*If no one picks up during a confirmation call, leave a confirmation voicemail.*
Confirmation Voicemail Script
“Hi, this is [your name] calling from the Development of Social Cognition Lab at UC-Irvine. I’m calling to confirm our appointment with [child name] on [day, date] at [time]. If that time no longer works for you or if you have any other questions, please give us a call back at (949) 824-4738. We specifically staff our lab for each visit, so if you're unable to make it or just running late, we really appreciate you letting us know. We're really looking forward to seeing you and [child name] on [day, date] at [time]. Thank you!”
No-Show Voicemail Script
“Hi, this is [your name] calling from the Development of Social Cognition Lab at UC-Irvine. I’m calling because we missed [child name] today; we hope everything is alright! Please give us a call back at (949) 824-4738. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!”
*There is no script for No-Show calls. If a parent picks up a no-show call, answer with the first two lines of the voicemail script "Hi, this is~we hope everything is alright!" and wing it! (But with a kind and courteous manner.)*
Recruiting Script
(Practice the scripts, but feel free to make it your own.)
Short Script:
Hi! We're researchers from UCI and we're playing games with kids to find out how they think and learn. Do you think your kids would be interested in playing a short game for some stickers or prizes?
Medium Script:
Hi! We're researchers from UCI and we study how kids think and learn about the social world around them. We play short games with kids that take around 5-10 minutes. The kids have a lot of fun and they get a prize at the end. Right now we're playing games with kids aged ____. Do you think your child/children would be interested in participating?
If no:
“Alright, thank you for your time! We're here until ____ in case you want to know more!”
If yes:
“Alright, thank you! Very quickly, I just have to make sure that you are the child's parent or legal guardian.”
If no:
“Oh, I'm afraid we can only play with kids whose parent or legal guardian is present. Thank you for your time!”
If yes:
“Alright, great! Let's go play some games then!”
Consent Script
(You don’t have to follow the script word for word, but mention all the points)
Hand them the consent form on the clipboard. Explain what the consent form is:
“This is a consent form. It essentially states that you allow us to play the games with your child and collect the data for our study. Right here is where you sign to give us permission to play with your child. And right here is where you sign to give us permission for video consent. We record the study so that we can check the data later and make sure that the study was run correctly and that the researchers didn’t make any mistakes. The video is very helpful and important for us to have. You can also specify here exactly what we're allowed to do with the video. If you like, the video can be completely confidential and will never be seen by anyone outside of the lab. However, if you still prefer that your child is not videotaped, you can decline here. Please take a moment to read over that and I can take it from you whenever you’re ready.”
If they haven’t checked video consent: “We just have a couple more questions for you and of course you can say no to these as well. Would you be willing to provide video consent for filming just the researcher as they’re playing with your child? It really does help us to make sure that they’re running the study correctly.”
If still no: “Alright, I understand. Would you be willing to provide audiotaping consent?”
If still no: “Alright, thank you for answering these questions.” [If parents seem fussy: “I’m required to ask these questions, so thank you for your patience.”]
If yes (at any point): “Thank you so much! Please indicate and sign right here. Thank you again!"
Once they are done with the consent form and hand it back:
“Alright, thank you! Here's a copy for you to keep.”
Child Assent Script
(Follow the Child Assent Form as you are doing verbal assent. This script should be used when we need to verbally assent the child.)
Before starting the study, ask if the child read the form:
“Did you have a chance to read the assent form so that you know what we're doing today?"
If no, ask if they want to read the form before you begin.
Verbally go over all of the points in the assent form:
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"We're doing research studying how children understand the social world around them. We want you to play some games with us to help us with our research. "
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"Today we're going to be playing some _____ games (computer games, storybook games, puppet games etc.)."
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"If you have any questions about what we're doing, you can ask them at any time. You can ask us questions now or later. Do you have any questions right now?"
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"Finally, I just want to make sure that you want to play the game. If you don't that's okay and you don't have to. If you do want to play now and change your mind later, that's okay too. If you want to play, we'll start now. So, do you want to play?"
"Alright, great! Let's start!"