Sample 1: Minimal Risk Study with Consent Required


The University Of North Carolina At Asheville (UNCA)
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN A RESEARCH STUDY
 

The following information describes the research study in which you are being asked to participate.  Please read the information carefully.  At the end, you will be asked to sign if you agree to participate.

Investigator
Dr. Jane Doe, an associate professor in the psychology department at UNCA, will conduct this research project.  Dr. Doe is being assisted in this research by Ms. Joan Day, a recent graduate of UNCA who is currently a graduate student in clinical psychology at Western Carolina University.

Purpose of Study
The purpose of this research study is to better understand how women cope with traumatic life events experienced in childhood.

What Will Happen During This Study

  1. You have been asked to participate in this study because of your responses to a questionnaire that you completed during the orientation for new students held this past August.  At that time, you identified yourself on your questionnaire as someone who would be willing to participate in a follow-up interview.
  2. You will be interviewed by Dr. Doe or Ms. Day for approximately one hour.  The interview will consist of questions about your adjustment to college, influences on your adjustment to college, stressful life events you have experienced in the past, the impact of such stressful events, and the ways in which you have coped with these events. 
  3. The interview will be audiotape-recorded.  The audiotapes will be transcribed by Dr. Doe or Ms. Day.

Possible Risks or Discomforts
It is possible that talking about stressful life events you have experienced in the past could make you personally uncomfortable.  You are welcome to skip any questions that make you uncomfortable, and you are also welcome to stop the interview at any time.

Possible Benefits
Some people find talking about stressful life events from the past to be helpful.  Another possible benefit of this study is that the results may help other people who have experienced stressful life events learn about effective ways of coping.

Privacy
We will make every effort to protect your privacy.  Your responses to the interview questions will be kept strictly confidential.  The audiotape recording of your interview will be coded by a number rather than your name, and after the audiotape is transcribed, it will be destroyed.  The transcriptions will contain no identifying information.  When the results of this study are published, participants will be referred to by code numbers, not names.  Once the study is completed, any records containing the names of interview participants will be destroyed. 

Your Rights
The decision to participate in this study is completely up to you.  You will not be treated any differently if you decide not to be in this study.  If you decide to be in the study, you have the right to stop being in the study at any time.

Contact Information
Dr. Jane Doe (828/251-1234, jdoe@unca.edu) will gladly answer any questions you may have concerning the purpose, procedures, and outcome of this project.  You may also contact the Chair of UNCA's Institutional Review Board (IRB), Dr. Don Diefenbach (828/251-6731, ddeifenb@unca.edu) to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about the rights of study participants. (The IRB is a college committee concerned with the protection of human subjects in research.)

SUMMARY
I have read the information in this consent form and agree to participate in this study.  I have had the chance to ask any questions I have about this study, and they have been answered for me.

Although the investigator will make every effort to maintain confidentiality, I understand that research records must be made available to UNCA's IRB, if they are requested.   I will receive a copy of this form after it has been read and signed.

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Printed Name of Participant                           Signature of Participant   Date
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Signature of Person Obtaining Consent                                                                  Date