"The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a global network of over 500 labs in over 70 countries that completes rigorous, democratically selected psychology projects", says Patrick S. Forscher, one of PSA's assistant directors. "The PSA has partnered with ZPID to complete a rapid-response project to investigate the behavioral aspects of the COVID-19 crisis. We project that the project will involve around 190 sites throughout the world and could reach as many as 30,000 participants."
The PSA has called for rapid and impactful study proposals on COVID-19, 66 proposals were submitted. Three studies have been selected and will be conducted in several countries. ZPID supports the PSA in the following countries: Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, Romania, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and China.
Each study is preregistered. The protocols can be found in ZPID's repository PsychArchives (Search for: Psychological Science Accelerator) where the data will be stored and linked to the protocols after collection as well.
"The PSA does an amazing job connecting researchers around the globe. It is inspiring to see what we can achieve when we join forces to work towards a common goal. And we do not even have to be at the same place", says Dr. Stefanie Mueller, head of study planning, data collection and data analysis services at ZPID and involved in the PSA project. "I think this is what Tim Berners-Lee had in mind when he invented the internet and made it free for everyone to use."
The Psychological Science Accelerator's mission is to accelerate the accumulation of reliable and generalizable evidence in psychological science.