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|
Informed Consent
Form | |
| INTERNATIONAL SURVEY | |
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| GLOBAL
PERSPECTIVES
ON PEACE, WAR, AND GOVERNMENTAL VIOLENCE |
This survey was developed by a group of international students to learn about judgments around the world concerning individual rights within the family and society. Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. If you agree to participate, you will be asked to rate the level of your agreement with statements concerning individual and governmental rights, and you will be asked to write an explanation of your score for each item. You will also be asked to respond to a set of scenarios about how you would feel and what you would want to do in the case of exposure to certain forms of violence, such as bombing. Finally, you will be asked to give your own personal definitions of a few words, like “violence.” You may choose not to answer any of the questions, and you are free to withdraw from the study at any time without any penalty to you. You will be able to address any questions, comments, or concerns you have about this study by contacting us by email, postal mail, or telephone at the addresses given below.
We do not ask your name on the survey, and your name will not appear
on any portion of your survey. When you submit it online, it is
submitted through a program called Pony Express, which deletes your email
address, in order to keep the survey completely anonymous. For purposes of
analysis, every survey will be identified only by an arbitrary number that we
will be unable to connect with your identity. Although every measure will be
taken to ensure confidentiality, it is a common fact that any information sent
via the World Wide Web cannot be guaranteed complete confidentiality. If you
are not comfortable responding to an anonymous online survey, you may request
that we mail you the survey instead; you can fill it out and mail it back to us
at our expense. Once we have received your data via the World Wide Web, it will
be stored on a computer in a locked office in the Department of Psychology at
In reporting results in professional journals or meetings, only group results and anonymous quotes will be provided. Individuals will not be identifiable. When the project is completed, a summary of results will be available at the project website: http://people.bu.edu/jdgmnts.
There are no foreseeable risks associated with participation in this study, although you may feel somewhat uncomfortable providing judgments on the kinds of violence rampant in our world today. Remember that if you become uncomfortable, you can discontinue your participation at any time, and refrain from submitting your responses. Your participation contributes to our understanding of cross-cultural perspectives on uses of aggression in society, which in turn will help in research, the development of public policy, and international understanding.
If you have any questions, please send a letter or an email to the Project Supervisor,
Kathleen Malley-Morrison, Department of Psychology,
This
study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at
This survey ordinarily takes between 15 and 30 minutes to complete, depending on how fully participants want to explain their points of view. We encourage you to present your points of view as thoroughly as possible.
If you wish to print a copy of this informed consent form for your records please do so now.