hristudio/docs/tutorials/02-your-first-study.md

Tutorial 2: Your First Study

Learn how to create a research study and configure team access.

Objectives

• Create a new research study
• Configure study settings (IRB, institution)
• Add team members with appropriate roles

What is a Study?

In HRIStudio, a Study is the top-level container for your research:

Study
├── Experiments (multiple protocols)
├── Participants (study participants)
├── Team Members (collaborators)
├── Forms & Surveys (consent, questionnaires)
└── Trials (individual experiment runs)

Step 1: Create a New Study

1. Log in as Researcher or Administrator
2. Click Studies in the sidebar
3. Click Create Study

Study Settings

Field	Description	Required
Name	Study title	Yes
Description	Brief overview of research goals	Yes
Institution	University or organization	No
IRB Protocol	Protocol number (e.g., 2024-HRI-001)	No
Status	Draft, Active, Completed, Archived	Yes

Example: Creating "Robot Trust Study"

Name: Robot Trust Study
Description: Investigating how robot appearance affects human trust in collaborative tasks.
Institution: Bucknell University
IRB Protocol: 2024-HRI-TRUST
Status: Draft

Step 2: Add Team Members

Studies can have multiple collaborators with different roles:

Role	Permissions
Owner	Full access, can delete study
Researcher	Create/edit experiments, manage participants
Wizard	Execute trials, control robot
Observer	View-only access, add annotations

Adding a Wizard

1. Open your study
2. Go to Team tab
3. Click Add Member
4. Enter the wizard's email
5. Select Wizard role
6. Click Invite

The wizard will receive access to:

• View the study and experiments
• Execute trials
• Control the robot during trials
• Add notes to trials

Step 3: Install Robot Plugins

For studies involving robots, you need to install the appropriate plugin:

1. Go to Plugins in the sidebar
2. Select your study from the dropdown
3. Click Browse Plugins
4. Find your robot (e.g., "NAO6 Robot (ROS2 Integration)")
5. Click Install
6. Configure robot settings (IP address, etc.)

Plugin Configuration

For NAO6 robots:

Robot IP: 192.168.1.100
Connection Type: ROS2 Bridge
WebSocket URL: ws://localhost:9090

Step 4: Create Forms

Before running trials, you need consent forms:

1. Go to Forms tab in your study
2. Click Create Form
3. Select form type:
   • Consent - Informed consent documents
   • Survey - Post-session questionnaires
   • Questionnaire - Demographic forms

Form Templates

HRIStudio provides templates to get started:

Template	Use Case
Informed Consent	Required for all participants
Post-Session Survey	Collect feedback after trials
Demographics	Collect participant information

Step 5: Add Participants

1. Go to Participants tab
2. Click Add Participant
3. Enter participant code (e.g., "P001")
4. Fill in optional details

Batch Import

For large studies, import from CSV:

participantCode,name,email,notes
P001,John Smith,john@email.com,Condition A
P002,Jane Doe,jane@email.com,Condition B

Study Workflow

Draft → Active → Recruiting → In Progress → Completed
  │        │          │            │           │
  │        │          │            │           └── All trials done
  │        │          │            └── Trials running
  │        │          └── Recruiting participants
  │        └── Ready to collect data
  └── Setting up study

Study Settings Deep Dive

IRB Compliance

Store your IRB information:

• Protocol number
• Approval date
• Expiration date
• Consent form versions

Data Management

Configure data retention:

• Anonymization settings
• Export formats (CSV, JSON)
• Backup frequency

Notification Settings

Configure alerts for:

• Trial completion
• Participant issues
• Robot disconnection

Common Tasks

Clone a Study

Create a copy of an existing study:

1. Open the study
2. Click Settings (gear icon)
3. Select Duplicate Study
4. Enter new study name

Archive a Study

When a study is complete:

1. Go to study settings
2. Change status to Archived
3. Data is preserved but study is read-only

Transfer Ownership

Change the study owner:

1. Go to Team tab
2. Find the new owner
3. Click Make Owner

Troubleshooting

Can't Add Team Member

• Check email is correct
• User must have an HRIStudio account
• You must be an owner or admin

Plugin Installation Failed

• Check robot is on the network
• Verify WebSocket URL is correct
• Check Docker services are running

Next Steps

Now that your study is set up:

1. Designing Experiments - Create your first experiment protocol
2. Forms & Surveys - Customize your consent forms
3. Running Trials - Learn about trial management

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Previous: Getting Started | Next: Designing Experiments