Play an educational game and help military families
We invite you to participate in a research study that involves testing an educational game with virtual characters that could help families and friends improve their communication skills and recognize commons signs of readjustment to civilian life.
The study is now CLOSED to enrollment. We are processing results.
If you have any questions, please contact us:
Tel: (213) 784-3998 | soargame@usc.edu
QUALIFICATIONS
Adults aged 18 to 86 who are friends or family members of service members or veterans who are deployed or returned from deployment (not earlier than 2007). Service members or veterans cannot qualify for this study themselves.
PROCEDURES
If you agree to participate, you will be asked to complete online surveys and may be invited to play a simulation game developed by Soar Technology, Inc.
You can test the game privately with us at the USC campus, off campus, or at your home.
COMPENSATION
Participants can receive up to $30, free parking on campus, and lunch or snacks.
Your participation is voluntary. Information collected during the study will be kept confidential. Our detailed study information sheet can be downloaded here: PDF.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
*Q. I am a service member or a veteran. Can I participate?
A. We cannot recruit service members or veterans for this study. Please forward it to your friends and family who may be able to participate with you in mind.
Q. Why should I participate in this study?
A. We are conducting an independent evaluation of a resource that will be made available for free to the public. Your feedback is very valuable for improving the product, and for making it relevant and useful to other friends and families of service members or veterans.
Q. How much time of my time will this study take?
A. If you click on the link above, you will be asked 10 short questions (1 min) to see if you qualify for the first part of the study. If you qualify, you will be asked to initial the study information sheet and give us your contact information. You will also be asked to fill out our first survey (5-7) minutes online immediately after screening. We will then review your information to see if you meet criteria for the second part of the study. If you do, we will contact you within 48-72 hours for an in-person appointment at USC, at your home or a community center near you. We offer weekend, weekend, daytime and evening options. During the in-person appointment, we will need up to 1.5 hours of your time.
During that meeting you will be asked to fill out paper surveys (5 minutes) before and after playing three scenes from an educational game., for up to 30 minutes. We may also ask you for some interview questions after playing (10-25 minutes). One week after playing, you will receive an email link to a follow-up survey with familiar questions (5 minutes). The average in-person appointment is 1 hour, but we allow for more time in case people want to give us more feedback if they want to.
Q. I don’t live in Southern California. Can I still qualify?
A. At the moment, we are enrolling participants from Southern California in the second part of the study (including San Diego), but if there are enough qualified volunteers elsewhere in Northern California, we will consider traveling there, or to other locations. We are giving priority to participants within 1-2 hours of USC, but depending on our enrollment progress, we may expand to other areas by June. We made one trip to San Diego area already and we are planning another one early June.
Q. How can I get wait-listed in the study?
A. If you wish to be wait-listed for your location, you will have to click on the link below so you can first determine whether you are eligible. If you are found eligible and proceed with the first part of the study, we will email you if you match study criteria for participating in the second part of the study. In that email, we ask participants whether they want to come to USC or whether they would like to be visited. At that time, you can let us know you prefer a home visit and give us your zip code so we can see how many participants we have nearby your location. If enough people qualify in a particular area before we reach our target enrollment for the entire study, we will email everyone to make a schedule that can work.
Q. I filled out the survey and did not qualify past the first part. What happened?
A. There are many reasons why volunteers do not qualify. The most common reasons are that they do not have a friend or family member who is a service member or veteran, they are service members or veterans themselves, they or the person they have in mind are already receiving counseling so they would not benefit from this study, or they decline to state on some answers.