The Miller College of Business at Ball State University requires each student enrolled in Principles of Marketing (MKG 300) and/or Managing Behavior in Organizations (MGT 300) to participate in the Research Experience Program (REP). The purpose of the REP is to provide an exposure to the process by which business knowledge is developed, and to enhance students’ appreciation of the nature and role of research topics and methods. In the REP, students have the opportunity to experience research first-hand, either as a participant of a research project with a certain research question or as a reviewer of recent research. The REP experience can be valuable in a future career in business in terms of evaluating or conducting research. Faculty members will also benefit from their involvement in the REP, as they will have increased participation in their studies and have a better comprehension of important issues and processes.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns please contact REP@bsu.edu.

REP Program Checklist

  1. Register for the REP program by Sunday, September 1, 2024 and take the sign up study and receive 1 credit.
  2. Check each Monday (Beginning on Sunday, August 25, 2024) for a new study being posted.
  3. If you participate in a study, you'll receive credit (usually once the study has closed).
  4. Check the online system to see how many credits you have accumulated. You must complete your REP studies by Friday, December 6, 2024 and/or journal article reviews by December 6, 2024, 5pm EST.
  5. When you earn five (5) credits (1 registration credit and other 4 research credits) you are done for the semester! If you miss the sign up date and study, you can register at any time and still complete.
  6. Your professor will award the 5 percent to your grade at the end of the semester.

Two Ways to Earn Credit

Participate in research or review articles in scholarly journals to satisfy the REP requirement, which will be 5 percent of your grade in MKG 300 and/or MGT 300

REP Access and Link

View sign up instructions for SONA and research studies (PDF).

Login or sign up

Each student will be asked to complete 4 credits worth of studies during the semester. Studies can be valued at 1 credit. The fifth credit being awarded for registration in the REP system during the first two weeks of the semester. At the end of the semester students may learn the general context of the research in which they participated, its particular purpose, and how this study contributes to the development of business knowledge. In some cases, students may also receive a summary of the study’s findings.

Student participation is maintained in the Miller College of Business online system by the Subject Pool Administrator. Regardless of how REP units are completed, students must register online by Sunday, September 1, 2024. Further information and instructions for registering and signing-up to participate in a research study are provided below.

Below are detailed instructions for students who wish to satisfy their REP requirements by participating in research sessions.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns please email REP@bsu.edu.

Step 1

To register, please go to: https://bsu-miller.sona-systems.com

On the home page you will see a “Miller College of Business - Research Experience Program” click on the “Request Account” link to request a participant account. When you register on the website, it is important to accurately enter your name, user ID, BSU email address, student ID number, and course and section number. Once you have registered, you will be able to view research sessions that are available. Research sessions will take place between August 26, 2024 and Friday, December 6, 2024. Specific dates and times of open research sessions will be posted.

Step 2

Students should regularly check the above website to learn about available research sessions, which will only be posted online. You will see the date, location (i.e., lab or online), and a description of each research session. You must book an appointment for a session on this website. Availability is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Do not email your MKG 300 or MGT 300 instructor to sign up for a session.

Step 3

Research session may be Internet-based or laboratory-based. For Internet-based sessions, you can participate online following the instructions that are provided. For laboratory-based sessions, you have to show up at the announced location on the designated date and time. Please note the time and place of a session. If you do not show up for your session, the researcher may not allow you to schedule a second session. First, be sure the cancellation deadline has not passed. Please note you can cancel in Sona (the online system) should you need to cancel a session, and do so before the cancellation deadline.

Step 4

Make sure you sign the sign-in sheet at your research session if it takes place in a laboratory setting. This will enable the researcher to assign you credit for participating in the research session. Please note that your responses will remain strictly confidential and will not be retained in any file by your name. Further, all analyses reported will involve only summaries of anonymous responses.

Important Notes

  • If you wait until the end of the semester to sign-up for research sessions, you may have trouble finding studies in which to participate. The last day to participate in an experiment is Friday, December 6, 2024, 5pm EST.
  • All studies in the REP have been reviewed for compliance with the BSU Human Research Review Committee before you can participate in them. This review assures that there are no unethical research protocols and that the outcomes of the research benefit you and the general public.
  • Any questions about the REP or concerns about a particular research session or researcher should be brought to the attention of the Subject Pool Administrator (REP@bsu.edu), not your MKG 300 or MGT 300 instructor.
  • There is a “three strikes” policy for research participation. If you accumulate three unexcused absences for research appointments, you will be permanently unable to participate in research in the future. Avoid this by scheduling appointments conscientiously, and notifying researchers if you are unable to make an appointment. Even if the cancellation deadline has passed, and you know that you cannot make the appointment, contact the researcher anyway. It will be at his/her discretion to assign your absence as either excused or unexcused.

The second option for satisfying REP requirements involves the completion of a two-page review based on a journal article published in the last year in one of the top journals. This option will require students to read an article from an approved list of scholarly journals and answer a number of questions. It is possible that students may not have the training to understand all technical and quantitative aspects of these papers. However, it is important to understand how knowledge that appears in many textbooks is created. Students are free to choose an article about a topic they enjoy, and are expected to provide a basic summary of the article. A student can review up to four articles and receive a credit for each article review completed.

Student participation is maintained in the Miller College of Business online system by the Subject Pool Administrator. Please email your article review(s) to REP@bsu.edu by 5 p.m. Friday, December 6, 2024. Regardless of how REP units are completed, students must register online by Sunday, September 1, 2024. Further information and instructions for registering and writing article reviews are provided below.

Below are detailed instructions for students who wish to satisfy a portion of their REP requirements by reviewing marketing journal articles.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns please contact REP@bsu.edu.

Step 1

To register, please go to: https://bsu-miller.sona-systems.com

On the home page you will see a “Miller College of Business - Research Experience Program” click on the “Request Account” link to request a participant account. When you register on the website, it is important to accurately enter your name, user ID, BSU email address, student ID number, and course and section number.

Step 2

Please choose an article from any one of the journals listed below. The article you choose should be published in 2015 or later. Please choose a subject area that is interesting to you. You can find these journals online.

Management Journals
  • Academy of Management Journal
  • Academy of Management Review
  • Administrative Science Quarterly
  • Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Human Relations
  • Human Resource Management (USA)
  • Journal of Applied Psychology
  • Journal of Business Ethics
  • Journal of Business Venturing
  • Journal of International Business Studies
  • Journal of Management
  • Journal of Personality & Social Psychology
  • Management Science
  • Organization Science
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
  • Organization Studies
  • Psychological Bulletin
  • Research Policy
  • Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal
  • Strategic Management Journal
Marketing Journals
  • Journal of Consumer Research
  • Journal of Marketing
  • Journal of Marketing Research
  • Journal of Business Ethics
  • Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
  • Journal of the Academy of Marketing Sciences
  • Journal of Applied Psychology
  • Journal of Consumer Psychology
  • Marketing Science
  • Journal of Marketing Education
  • Business and Society Review
  • Journal of Business Research
  • Journal of Interactive Marketing
  • Journal of International Marketing
  • Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice
  • Academy of Marketing Science Review (online)
  • Journal of Retailing
  • Journal of Advertising
  • Journal of Advertising Research
  • Journal of Service Research
  • European Journal of Marketing
  • Industrial Marketing Management

Step 3

Provide a two-page review of the article, following the below instructions.

  1. Place the following header on the top of the page: “REP Article Review Option (MKG 300 or MGT 300)”.
  2. Indicate the author(s), the title of the paper, the journal title, the publication year, the volume, the number, and the page numbers. Make sure that you have thoroughly read the article.
  3. Explain the main research question(s) and purpose of the study. If the authors have proposed and/or tested hypotheses, summarize the proposed hypotheses.
  4. Explain the research methodology used. If the authors have collected data, indicate the number of studies and the sample size of each study.
  5. Briefly summarize the findings reported. If the authors have proposed hypotheses, indicate whether support was found for each hypothesis.
  6. Briefly explain the implications of the article. How does it help managers, consumers, or other constituencies?

Step 4

Your two-page review of the article should be single-spaced, using 12- point font, with 1-inch margins on all sides. In the upper left corner, provide your name, student ID, class, and section. Your review must be typed; hand-written reviews will not be accepted.

Step 5

Please email your complete article review(s) to REP@bsu.edu by 5 p.m. Friday, December 6, 2024. Do not submit your article review to your MKG 300 or MGT 300 instructor! No late papers will be accepted.

Important Note

Please note that the article reviews must be your own work and that no collaboration is permitted. Any student involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University.