Information for Your IRB Application

1. About MobLab Research

This section provides an overview of the MobLab Research platform and how it works.

What is MobLab Research?

MobLab Research is a US-based platform that connects academic and industry researchers with a dedicated pool of study participants. Our service streamlines the research process by managing recruitment, participant targeting, and compensation, allowing you to focus on conducting your study and collecting high-quality data. You host your study on your preferred external platform (e.g., Qualtrics, Gorilla, self-hosted oTree project), and we provide the participants.

2. Participant Sourcing & Vetting

This section explains how we recruit participants and verify their authenticity.

Where does MobLab Research find its participants?

Our subject pool originated with former users of the MobLab Classroom product who voluntarily opted in to join our research panel. The pool has since expanded significantly and now includes participants recruited through social media outreach, online advertisements, and participant referrals. All participants, regardless of their origin, voluntarily sign up for a MobLab Research account. Our recruitment efforts are currently focused on individuals within the United States.

How does MobLab Research verify that participants are real and unique?

We employ a robust, multi-step process to maintain the integrity of our participant pool and prevent fraudulent activity:

• University Email (.edu) Verification: Every participant is required to sign up and verify an email address from an accredited educational institution.
• PayPal Account Verification: Each participant must link a valid PayPal account to their profile. This serves as a strong method of identity verification and is a key tool in preventing the creation of duplicate accounts by a single individual. To further ensure account uniqueness, each PayPal account can only be linked to a single MobLab Research account.

Preventing Coercion and Conflicts of Interest

To ensure participation is fully voluntary and to prevent potential conflicts of interest, our platform is designed to maintain a strict separation between researchers and participants. Researchers cannot target or selectively recruit specific individuals, such as students from their own classes. All study invitations are presented to a broad, anonymized pool of eligible participants based on the demographic filters selected by the researcher. This ensures that a participant's decision to join a study is not influenced by any external academic or power dynamic.

3. Participant Anonymity & Identifiers

This section covers how participant privacy is protected and our PII policies.

How is participant anonymity maintained?

On our platform, participants are identified to researchers exclusively by their MobLab Research ID, a unique alphanumeric code. All interactions, data, and payments within the MobLab Research ecosystem are linked to this ID, not to personal information like names or contact details, ensuring pseudonymity.

Can I collect personally identifiable information (PII) from participants?

MobLab Research solely provides a unique Participant ID to researchers; we do not provide or share any participant PII (such as names, email addresses, or phone numbers). If your study requires the collection of personal information, you must request it directly from participants within your external study platform.

Please note that any data collection occurring on your external study link is outside the scope of MobLab Research's business and services. Researchers are responsible for ensuring that their external data collection complies with their IRB approval and applicable privacy regulations.

Linking Study Data to Participant ID

To connect a participant's study data with their MobLab Research ID for payment purposes, one of two methods is used. The ID can be automatically passed from our platform to your external study via a URL query string (e.g., https://yoursurvey.com/study?id=MOB123XYZ). Alternatively, the participant can be provided with their unique MobLab Research ID and instructed to manually enter it at the beginning of your external survey. This allows you to record the ID alongside the response data without collecting any PII from the participant.

4. Participant Payments

This section explains our compensation structure and payment policies.

How are participants compensated for their time?

When you approve a participant's submission, the payment is credited to their MobLab Research account balance. Participants can let their rewards accumulate in this balance and can choose to "cash out" their earnings to their linked PayPal account at any time. All compensation is monetary; we do not use points, vouchers, or other forms of non-cash rewards. All payment processes are managed through our platform.

What are your rules regarding fair payment?

We are committed to the principle of fair compensation for high-quality data. While you set the final pay rate for your study, we enforce a platform-wide minimum of $8.00 per hour. To attract the most reliable and engaged participants, we strongly recommend a pay rate of at least $10.00 per hour.

How does the study completion process work?

To ensure a seamless and secure process, we manage the completion logic. At the end of your external study, you can either redirect the participant back to our platform using a special URL or provide them with a completion code. Once a participant successfully uses the completion link or submits the correct code on MobLab Research, their submission is marked as complete on your dashboard, making it ready for your review and approval.

5. Participant Screening & Consent

This section covers age requirements, screening processes, and informed consent procedures.

What is the age requirement for participants?

All participants using the MobLab Research platform must be 18 years of age or older.

How does the screening process work?

Our platform features a comprehensive set of demographic and educational filters. When you set up your study, you select the specific criteria for your target audience. Our system then ensures that only participants who match your filters will see and be invited to your study.

How is participant data protected?

The privacy and security of our users are paramount. All activities on our platform are governed by our Participant Privacy Notice and Terms of Use.

Is participation in studies voluntary?

Yes, absolutely. Participants see a list of available studies for which they are eligible and make an active choice whether to participate. They are never automatically enrolled in a study.

What information do participants see before deciding to join?

Before joining, participants can review the study's public title, the detailed description you provide, the compensation amount (including any bonus potential), the estimated completion time, and the compatible devices (desktop, tablet, etc.).

How should I handle informed consent?

As the researcher, you are responsible for obtaining informed consent within your external study. The standard and required practice is to use the first page of your study as a consent form. This form should:

• Clearly outline the study's purpose, what will be asked of the participant, and any potential risks or benefits.
• Include a clear mechanism for consent, such as a checkbox or button (e.g., "I have read and understood the consent form and agree to participate").
• Provide instructions for participants who do not consent. They should be directed to an end page instructing them to "Return" the submission on the MobLab Research platform, which frees up their spot for another participant.

Withdrawing from a Study

Participants may withdraw from a study at any time without penalty by simply closing the browser window. As the researcher, you are responsible for outlining your policy for partial payment in your consent form. We encourage researchers to offer fair, prorated compensation based on the portion of the study completed before withdrawal. Researchers can use MobLab's bonus payment feature to issue partial payments in these cases.

Data Withdrawal After Completion

Your informed consent form should always provide participants with your direct contact information. If a participant wishes to have their data withdrawn after completing the study, they must contact you, the researcher, directly. As MobLab does not have access to or control over your research data, we cannot process these requests.

6. Data Collection & Security

This section explains our data handling practices and security measures.

Does MobLab Research access or store my research data?

No. MobLab Research does not see, interact with, or store any of the substantive response data collected within your external study. Our role is limited to managing the study's metadata (e.g., setup details, participant status, payment information). You, the researcher, are the sole controller of your research data.

Is a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) needed between my institution and MobLab Research?

No. Because MobLab Research does not process or store any of your research data, we do not act as a "data processor" in that context. Therefore, a DPA is not required between you and our platform for the data collected in your study.

MobLab Platform Security

While MobLab does not access or store your substantive research data, all data managed by our platform (such as participant account details, study metadata, and payment information) is protected with industry-standard security measures. This includes encryption of data in transit using TLS and at rest, along with strict internal access controls to safeguard all user information.

Data Policies for MobLab Classroom Studies

For researchers utilizing the MobLab Classroom to host their study, the following policies apply to ensure strict de-identification and clearly define data management responsibilities:

• Strict Separation of Identifiers: MobLab Classroom does not collect, receive, or store personal identifiers (such as names, emails, or platform account profiles). Participants routed from MobLab Research interact with your study hosted on MobLab Classroom using only randomly generated, anonymous IDs. This ensures your substantive research data is entirely de-identified.
• Data Deletion Requirement: Because MobLab does not monitor individual usage to flag which specific instances are research studies, we do not track your study's conclusion date. Therefore, it is your strict responsibility to explicitly request deletion of your data immediately after exporting your results. You must outline this manual deletion timeline (e.g., "within 7 days of study conclusion") in your IRB protocol.
• Long-Term Storage: MobLab is not a research data repository. The responsibility for extracting, securely storing, and managing your research data long-term remains strictly with you, the researcher.