Research project

[Christinegirl]

Hi Christine,

No worries at all, I totally understand your concerns! This school research project is not about making anyone do or say anything they do not feel comfortable with...I am here to explore an online community that I find to be interesting and get some qualitative responses from members who want to participate .

... At the end of the day the primary purpose of consent form is so that participants can review it to see what my true intentions are and how the information they provide about their experience on the Girls Forum will remain completely confidential and secured by myself and professor reviewing the material (we will be the only 2 who have access to my complete research project, unless you would life a copy as well!).

Feel free to remain in the PM's if you like this way you can observe what is going on!

-Danielle

 

[Christinegirl]

Also, I was just re-reading your response and I don't think I made this really clear but members can definitely sign the form using an e-signature as well as check marks drawn out if that would potentially work better/easier

 

[Christinegirl]

Hi Danielle,

How does York University want us to e-sign or use check marks drawn out to sign the consent form?

I looked online and I think we need to either create a HelloSign account, have Microsoft Word, Adobe Sign, etc. or some kind of app. in order to do this. But like I said, whenever I've had to fill out a legal document online, I've only had to click on a box - and in so doing, it served as my legal signature, and me stating I agree that the information I've provided is accurate (and it's legally binding).

Just on a side note, you mentioned that you wanted to conduct four interviews with members of this forum. I think you only have two potential participants now. As I mentioned, this is a small online community with only a handful of active members. Can you even go forward with your research project?

Your intentions may be honorable but just about anything electronic/online can be hacked into to the point that it's not 100% secure, safe, confidential, etc. I mean, we'll sometimes take a risk of having our identity stolen when we give confidential information online, if there's something substantial to be gained, but not if it's something like filling out an online questionnaire.

As I mentioned, I won't remain on the individual PM's between yourself and the participating member (should they be set up). You and the member are entitled to your privacy. I'm more concerned about the personal information the University needs to have in order for the "interview" to go on.

Christine

 

[Christinegirl]

Hi all,

I just want to assure you all that when filling out the the permission form before the interview no personal information is necessary, the form just needs your first name, your signature and 3 boxes checked (no other information is required and will not be accessible to the university just myself and my professor marking the assignment - all forms will be destroyed and shredded once the project is complete)! The form is simply for you to gain your own knowledge on the goals I have for my project. To guard against any security as per @Christinegirl concerns, a better route could be to send the form via email (hotmail, gmail, outlook, yahoo etc.) as these are all secure email platforms.


With reference to an e-signature, that can be done simply when opening the pdf file, but I will get that with each individual when were there!

 

[Christinegirl]

I just want to assure you all that when filling out the the permission form before the interview no personal information is necessary

Except our signature which will be transferred electronically and if hacked, can be forged and then used in an identity theft. It's not like we came to the university and filled out the form and then it was filed/locked away in a filing cabinet with only you and your professor having the key.

Like I said, I know it sounds paranoid, but this has happened to people. So I just want everyone to know the potential risks for just filling out a questionnaire (and I would do the same for you, Danielle, or anyone in a similar situation. There are too many people who have been scammed because they had no one looking out for them.)

What will be shredded once the project is complete? Are you going to print the consent form once the members email it to you?

If the consent form was simply for the members to gain their own knowledge on the goals you have for your project, they could just read what you wrote. If someone has ill intent, they wouldn't list their true intentions anyway. Again, it's not like signing a medical consent form where, for example, we want to donate our kidney to a friend but the doctors/hospital might want to sell it to the "highest bidder" so they get the donor to sign a consent form saying the donor agrees to this.

And I've read the questions and it doesn't seem like any of our answers would involve information we wouldn't want published in say, an article or book. But if that were the case, (say for example, if we were filling out a sex questionnaire), we could always use a fictitious name/username to protect our identity. Personally, I would recommend members (who participate in this project) use a fictitious name.

~~

It's all these little things involving this whole project that makes me (not uncomfortable but) suspicious, just for filling out a questionnaire about an online forum. But it's up to the members to decide whether or not they want to proceed.

It's not so much the sending of the information to the university that's the problem. It's what can happen to it afterwards and why is it so important for us to possibly have to download and open a pdf file on our computer and the university to have our signature and email address. But I've talked about this before.

What I would recommend to any member participating in this project, is: not sign the consent form with the same signature that they might use in, say, signing a personal check. That way, if something does happen (outside of your control), the members will be protected.

But I hope everything goes well for everyone and everything is a success.

Christine

 

[Christinegirl]

The goal here is just to insure I can complete an enjoyable research project for school and have volunteers who are willing to participate! That is definitely an option in signing the participation form, so at the end of the day no one knows what your true signature is LOL (But just for one's own piece of mind- I want to reiterate it will just be viewed by my eyes and my professors).

This thread has gotten particularly long so I may potentially open up another one and then redirect people here to view the content before participating!

-Danielle

 

[Christinegirl]

Hi Danielle,

The goal here is just to insure I can complete an enjoyable research project for school and have volunteers who are willing to participate

That's what I thought this initially was, also. But then it became much more, involving suspicious activity, taking up far too much time (that I don't have to spare), for something unnecessary/for something that could have just been a list of questions you had and we answered them (in a PM, in case a member didn't want to have their answers read in the general part of the forum).

You mentioned "all forms will be destroyed and shredded once the project is complete." What will be shredded? Are you going to print the consent form once the members send it to you? As everything is transferred electronically from us to you/York University, why does there need to be a "paper trail"?

This thread is only two pages long (which isn't long by forum/internet standards) so it's okay to continue to post here. (Hopefully this won't continue much longer.) If another thread is opened, it would just be another step for someone to read it and then come to this thread.

Christine

 

[Christinegirl]

With reference to the consent forms they will be deleted off my secured laptop by the end of april (once my project is complete) and my field-notes that I have taken throughout the project will be shredded.

 

[Christinegirl]

Hi Danielle,

I think people would be more willing to participate if the whole procedure wasn't so complicated. I'm not blaming you, Danielle. I just feel your professor/York University could have set this up/organized this in a much simpler way - especially considering we live in a technological age. It's not like we're living in the 1800's where we had to put pen to paper. As I said, we don't even have to do that with government documents anymore. I don't see why a university in a major city is asking us to. That's what I find suspicious.

Christine

 

[Christinegirl]

...You keep calling it an "interview". Is it your intention to have the participant answer in a face to face manner (which is what you initially proposed to me)? You might not know this, but too often when people give verbal interviews, their answers are "distorted"/the video is cut and spliced to make the person "say" something they didn't say. Again, I'm not saying you would do that but with everything involved with this (what should be a simple) questionnaire, I need to wonder why is there so much unnecessity surrounding it.

Yes, I don't have time to go back and forth with this, either, but if I have any questions, concerns, I will ask them - even if I have to ask the same question more than once, until it is answered (which I've had to do with two separate questions) because it's my responsibility as a moderator to look out for the members of this forum. And as I said, I would do the same for you.

And I'm glad I'm asking questions because the more I ask, the more I'm finding out what the research project entails. And as I've listed before, there are too many factors surrounding it that are unnecessary, which is what makes me suspicious.

So if everything is legitimate on your part and you don't get any participants for your project, you can thank York University for that - because people aren't going to take risks on the internet for something (as important as it is for you, but) like a simple questionnaire.

Christine

 

[Christinegirl]

... I have only explained this process being done via email messaging or private messaging because that is all I am comfortable with...

Not initially. You posted:

That would be awesome, thank you so much! Let me know when you have a chance what day and time would be best for you!!!

as if you were hoping/expecting the interview to be done the way interviews are usually done - face to face.

Yes of course, and I'm here to answer all those questions. If I have missed any I apologize because that it not the intent. I want to be as straight forward as possible with my intentions.

That's no problem if something was accidentally overlooked. We're all human. We all make mistakes. It's just if someone has something to hide (as is the case when someone has ill intent), they often ignore/overlook/avoid answering certain questions, lest they reveal too much of their true intentions. And as I said, I only found out the whole procedure (that I know of, so far) by asking questions and you slowly revealed what you wanted us to do.

I'm just hoping there are some kind people out their willing to help out!

Kindness doesn't mean taking unnecessary risks.

Christine.