A Subject Pool is a research resource used by some departments and schools in academic settings to enroll a large number of “available” subjects as potential volunteers. These volunteers are used in studies for that school or department. Subject Pools serve several roles: to provide researchers a pool from which to recruit primarily student participants for their studies and to familiarize students with the research process as subjects and researchers. Participants in subject pools may be compensated for their time through extra credit or other means. These uses make subject pools commonplace in Social and Behavioral Studies.

At the University of Southern California, subject pools are supported by the Department of Psychology in the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences and the Marshall School of Business

Marshall School of Business Subject Pools
The Marshall School of Business has an unpaid student subject pool conducted by the Department of Management and Organization and a paid subject pool open to the general public conducted by the Department of Marketing. Links to the Marshall School subject pools and to additional information from Marshall are listed below.

• Policy for Behavioral Studies at Marshall School of Business
• Department of Management and Organization Consent Procedures
• Department of Management and Organization Subject Pool Access
• Department of Marketing Consent Procedures
• Department of Marketing Paid Subject Pool Access

Department of Psychology Subject Pool
The Department of Psychology subject pool is only open to USC students. Links to the Psychology Subject Pool Webpage and subject pool participation instructions are listed below.

• Psychology Subject Pool Webpage
• Instructions for PSYC 100 Participation in the Subject Pool in Spring 2010
• Instructions for Non-PSYC 100 Participation in the Subject Pool in Spring 2010
• Department of Psychology Subject Pool Access

Mather Lab Healthy Minds Subject Pool (Aging Adults)
The Mather Lab's Healthy Minds Subject Pool assists researchers with gathering subjects for studies from the Davis School of Gerontology and related Departments.

• About the Mather Lab subject pool
• Sign up for the Healthy Minds Subject Pool

Subject Pool Vendors

• Sona Systems
• Qualtrics
• SurveyMonkey

For additional information, please click here for a link to a presentation on USC Subject Pools.

Recent Federal Guidance on Subject Pool and Penalties for “No Shows”*
Penalties for no-shows may not be assessed in subject pools
The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) posted on its website a letter stating that imposing penalty credits on students who fail to show up for scheduled appointments with investigators without canceling by a specified deadline violates the requirement of Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regulation 45 CFR part 46.116(a)(8). The letter can be viewed by clicking here.

*Correspondence with OHRP has indicated that in subject pool policies, penalties may be assessed when students:

1. Sign up for a study for which they are not eligible
2. Sign up for the same study for multiple different times
3. Sign up for a study in which they have already participated