If mom doesn’t appear to send [PERSON] out, then say: We just
want to double check that you’re ok with being alone with the child for
the first 90 minutes of this visit. As we mentioned earlier, we just
want you and your child at home. Let us know when you’re ready for it to
just be you and your child. If [PERSON] needs more time to leave, we
could start with questionnaires.
If other person needs to be in another room in the home, we want to
make sure they will not interrupt the mom and child or interact with
them.
At any point during the visit, what if a major protocol violation
occurs? E.g.,
Another person is there during the natural interaction
Mom interacts with the experimenter repeatedly during the
recording
You learn something about child’s disability status or language that
excludes them from the study
Mom or child engages in some other behavior that would invalidate
the visit
Conduct the study as usual, complete all steps in procedure. The
session won’t pass quality assurance, but parts of the video and
questionnaires will be usable to someone and shared on Databrary
anyway.
At any point during the visit, what if there are technical issues
with the video camera?
If the camera won’t turn on, there is no SD card, or something else
that would stop recording at all. Try to reschedule the visit.
If the battery runs out in the middle of the house walkthrough,
structured play, or questionnaires, replace the battery and resume
recording.
If the battery runs out in the first 5-15 minutes of the natural
play, replace the battery and start the 1 hour over. (Ensure you will
have enough battery power to record the rest of the home visit,
otherwise record what you can and reschedule for another time.)
If the battery runs out past 15 minutes of the natural play,
reschedule the visit for another time to ensure you can record
everything.
If it occurs within approximately the first 15 minutes of the study,
ask the mom if it would be possible to reschedule. Remember to be
apologetic and professional.
If it occurs in the middle of the session, continue with the rest of
the visit to the best of your ability and if necessary, “fake” the
recording. Experimenter should make note of what happened in the
post-visit notes.
At any point during the visit, what if the experimenter feels unsafe
or uncomfortable?
Experimenter’s safety should be considered above the completion of
the home visit.
Explain to mom that you are feeling unwell and cannot complete the
visit. Remember to be apologetic and professional while doing so (For
example, I’m not feeling great right now. I’m so sorry but I don’t
think that I will be able to finish the rest of the visit. I’m really
sorry for the inconvenience. )
If mom has already signed the study permission form, experimenter
should still provide subject payment (if possible) before leaving. (For
example, Again, I’m really sorry about this. We will definitely
still pay you for this visit though. Can you please sign this
form?)
Experimenter should make a note of what happened in the post-visit
notes.
What happens if I need to reschedule a visit while I’m on a home
visit (because something happened with equipment or participants)
Try to reschedule for within the next 1-2 days if possible.
Make sure the child still will be within the age window (within 1
week of 12, 18, or 24 months) on the new test date.
The Test Date on Databrary should be the date the 1-hour natural
play was done (so updated it if needed). Keep the same subject
number.
Give the mother participant payment in full amount on both
visits.
What if child is sleeping when I get there?
Do the questionnaire first.
Start one-hour natural play recording as soon as child wakes.
It is alright to stop questionnaire and then resume later after
recording interactions.
What if mom is concerned about parts of video when signing the
Databrary release form? Like breastfeeding or child is naked?
Remind her: Your video will only be shared with other
scientists if you mark Authorized Investigators. It won’t be shown to
anyone other than those researchers.
If mom insists, then make notes in clean up sheet and mark session
as ‘Private’ in Databrary.
What if mom offers you food or drink or anything else?
Always decline.
Bring your own water.
What if I need to go to the bathroom during the visit?
Do not. Plan your bathroom breaks around the visit (it will be
approx 2.5 hrs long).
If it is an emergency, ask very politely to go in between the
different portions of the visit.
What if mom asks you to stay with her child to get the mail, go
outside, bathroom, etc.?
Say We can stop recording and you can take him/her with you. We
can resume the recording whenever you’re ready.
If mom insists it’s okay, say: Because of legal reasons, I
cannot assume responsible for care of your child.
What if mom ends the session early and you didn’t finish
everything?
Try to finish what you can. Do your best to record the house
walkthrough if you can (especially main living space and child’s room or
sleeping area, clothes, toys, etc.)
If you are unable to complete the questionnaires, you must set up a
time to call mom to do so on a recorded video chat.
At any point during the visit, what if the experimenter feels
concerned for the safety of the participants?
Experimenters should follow the mandated reporting guidelines
provided by their institutions.
One-hour natural play
What if the mom wants to go outside?
Say You can go anywhere inside your home. We ask that you not go
outside, because not every family will have an outside space and we want
to try to keep it consistent for everyone.
What if the child (or mom with child) goes outside?
Continue recording the entryway from inside the home and wait for
them to come back.
If they have been outside for longer than 30 seconds or the mom is
not redirecting child inside, remind the mom that we want them to stay
inside the home for the 1-hour natural play.
What if child falls asleep in middle of hour of recording?
If child is noticeably sleepy: It’s okay if he/she needs to
take a nap. We can just complete the questionnaires now and see if he
wakes up afterwards to do the one-hour natural recording. If not, can we
reschedule our visit?”
You will need a full, uninterrupted one-hour recording of natural
play.
What if mom interacts with you?
Respond with very short but polite sentences. Quickly and quietly
remind mom that you want them to go about day as if you’re not
there.
What if mom is talking about or to me?
Ignore it at first. If it continues for too long, quickly and
quietly remind mom that you want them to go about day as if you’re not
there.
What if the child keeps trying to interact with me?
Don’t look directly at the child. If you need to look at the child,
look at them through video recording screen.
Children will usually try to do this during the first 5-10 mins of
your visit. Do not interact with them.
If child tries to hand you something, take a step back. If child is
looking at you, do not move and look away. Try to move back and put
space between you and child. If necessary, move behind furniture or
record from another room.
If child persists in interacting with you, keep recording. Be sure
to make notes in Clean Up.
What if doorbell rings for the dog walker, delivery, etc.?
Do not record the person coming. Try to still record child and mom
from discrete angle. If unable to do so without also capturing other
person, record the floor during that time so we can account for that
time.
If mom asks to stop recording, then stop and resume when she
returns
What if mom goes to the bathroom?
The mom will usually take child in with her. Keep the camera
recording from the outside. Record the closed door, or the floor (if the
door isn’t completely closed). It is important to keep the camera
running so we know how long they were in there.
If mom asks you to watch child: We are not allowed to watch
him/her for you but can take him/her into the bathroom with
you.
What if the mom feeds the child during the one-hour natural
play?
That’s fine, just continue recording.
No need to add time, i.e., record more than one hour.
What if the mom breastfeeds?
If mom just starts doing it: Record from a discrete angle (from the
mom’s back) so you know where the child and mom are and roughly what
they are doing.
If mom asks “Is it okay to breastfeed [CHILD]?”, say Sure, is
it ok that I keep recording from behind you?
What if child gets naked or gets a diaper change?
If mom does not make request to point camera elsewhere, continue
recording, shifting position if necessary to record the face and hands,
avoid getting a direct shot of the pelvic area.
If mom asks “Is it ok if I change [CHILD]?”, say Is it ok if
record from behind you just to get their face?
If mom requests not to record while she changes the child, ask if
she is okay with you turning your camera away to look at something else
but continue recording to capture the language.
At any point, if mom asks “Do you mind not recording this?”
Say Is it ok that I point camera somewhere else and continue
recording?
Make sure mom sees you are doing this. That way we can account for
the amount of time and language is being recorded.
If mom says no, then turn off camera and resume recording when it’s
okay.
If it’s only been a few minutes into the 1-hour natural play, try to
restart a new hour or reschedule for another full hour.
The video of the natural play session is split into multiple files.
What should I do?
Label each recording as PLAY_SITE_###_NaturalPlay_part1 and
PLAY_SITE_###_NaturalPlay_part2
Contact the PLAY team to troubleshoot a solution to the issue
Five-minute Structured Play
What if child doesn’t want to play but stays on the mat?
Continue recording for 5 minutes.
What if child wants to play with the toys but moves off the
mat?
Follow the child and record for 5 minutes.
What if child doesn’t want to play with the toys and moves
off the mat?
Follow the child and record for 5 minutes.
What if mom doesn’t want child to play with these toys?
Reassure mom that we wash and sanitize the toys before each visit.
If mom is still uncomfortable with child playing with the toys, move
onto next part of study.
Questionnaires
What if the father/partner/aunt/nanny/etc. is present during the
questionnaires portion?
It is ok if the other person is at home. However, we don’t want them
to answer or comment during the questionnaires. They can interact with
the child or be elsewhere in the home.
Say “For this part we are going ask some questions just to [CHILD’S]
mom. For consistency, since sometimes other individuals aren’t present
or part of the family, we want just the mother to answer the
questions.”
What if mom wants to skip section of questionnaire?
Move onto next part of questionnaire.
What to do if experimenter is unable to complete all the
questionnaires during the home visit?
If the experimenter is unable to go over all the questionnaires
during the visit (because the mother does not have time, the child is
irritable and mother asks to finish, or there is another reason why you
cannot continue) schedule a video call to complete remotely. The
administration of the locomotor milestones, language/vocabulary
measures, and Databrary form MUST be done in the home.
Guidelines for completing the questionnaires on a video call:
The call must be done within 48 hours of the home visit.
Remind the mother of the agreement level she signed on the Databrary
form and confirm that she agrees to share the video call with the rest
of the data. Say Just as a reminder, the videos collected today are
part of the data we collected during our home visit. You agreed to share
the data on Databrary, an online video library were only authorized
users have access, with other RESEARCHERS (AND IMAGES FOR PRESENTATIONS
[IF APPLIES]). Do you agree to share this video recording as part of the
data?
Video call must be recorded with mom in view and
uploaded with the rest of the data from the visit. Label the file as
PLAY_SITE_###_Questionnaires_remote
(e.g. PLAY_NYUNI_024_Questionnaires_remote)
Share your screen so that the mother can see the questionnaires and
scales when it applies.
The questionnaire must be completed on the same KoboToolBox session
and form that was started in the home.
Mom says the child knows some words in sign language - does that
count?
No, for the purposes of PLAY, sign language words do not count as
spoken words.
House Walkthrough
The laser isn’t working
The laser won’t work against mirror or glass. Try again from a
different angle.
The room is oddly shaped, i.e. not a rectangle
Measure the longest dimension for length and breadth
What if there is a room that the mom or child never entered during
recording?
Ask to record and take measurements of every room in the house
(including that room) anyway.
Ask if child have access to and goes into the room.
What if they refuse to let you in a specific room?
Ask if child have access to and goes into the room.