The Ohio State University Consent to Participate in Research
Study Title: Connecting to Congress
Protocol Number: 2019B0075
Researcher: Michael Neblo
Sponsor: National Issues Forums Institute
This is a consent form for research participation. It contains important information about this study and what to expect if you decide to participate.
Your participation is voluntary.
Please consider the information carefully. Feel free to ask questions before making your decision whether or not to participate.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine ways to improve communication between citizens and their elected representatives. The results from this study will be shared with elected officials, including members of Congress.
Procedures/Tasks: Participants in this study will first complete a pre-survey. You will then receive all the information you need to attend the town hall. After the town hall, all participants who attend the town hall will be invited to take a follow-up survey at a later date.
Duration: Each survey should take approximately twenty minutes to complete. Online town halls with members of Congress should take no more than 90 minutes.
You may leave the study at any time. If you decide to stop participating in the study, there will be no penalty to you, and you will not lose any benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Your decision will not affect your future relationship with The Ohio State University or other academic institutions involved with this research.
Risks and Benefits: We do not anticipate risks associated with this study that go beyond any discomfort you might have with political disagreement arising from everyday discussion. Potential benefits of this study include increased political knowledge as well as the opportunity to interact with your member of Congress.
Confidentiality: Personal identifying information will only be actively sought in order to provide compensation for participation. This information will be deleted after compensation has been sent. Only members of the research team will have access to data collected for this study prior to the publication of any findings. In the event that data are required to be housed on a public repository for replication purposes, such data will be de-identified before they are posted. If you would prefer that your de-identified data not be included in such a repository, please contact the principal investigator (Michael Neblo – neblo.1@osu.edu) within 60 days of completing your participation in the study to request its removal.
We will work to make sure that no one sees your survey responses without approval. But, because we are using the Internet, there is a chance that someone could access your online responses without permission. In some cases, this information could be used to identify you.
Also, there may be circumstances where this information must be released. For example, personal information regarding your participation in this study may be disclosed if required by state law. Also, your records may be reviewed by the following groups (as applicable to the research):
- Office for Human Research Protections or other federal, state, or international regulatory agencies;
- The Ohio State University Institutional Review Board or Office of Responsible Research Practices;
- The sponsor, if any, or agency (including the Food and Drug Administration for FDA-regulated research) supporting the study.
In addition to C2C researchers, your data will be shared with our research partner CHRR, a social science research center that is also part of The Ohio State University. This data sharing will take place over secure FTP sites. CHRR will partner with C2C in recruiting new survey participants and panel members in participating districts, administering surveys and other experiment-related communication, data-gather and storage, and analysis. Researchers and Database Managers at both C2C and CHRR have a professional duty to protect your privacy and to keep your information confidential. The information will be used only for research purposes. You will not be identified in any publication from this study.
Future Research: Your de-identified information may be used or shared with other researchers without your additional informed consent.
Incentives: There is a $5 incentive for completion of the full online pre-survey, which is not available for those who are contacted via phone polling. If you complete the town hall and the subsequent post-survey, you will receive another $10. Additionally, even if you choose to withdraw at any time, you remain eligible to be entered into a raffle for a chance at winning $500. The primary benefit is an additional chance to share your views with your Member of Congress in addition to the town hall.
Participant Rights: You may refuse to participate in this study without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. If you are a student or employee at Ohio State, your decision will not affect your grades or employment status. If you choose to participate in the study, you may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits. By agreeing to participate, you do not give up any personal legal rights you may have as a participant in this study.
An Institutional Review Board responsible for human subjects research at The Ohio State University reviewed this research project and found it to be acceptable, according to applicable state and federal regulations and University policies designed to protect the rights and welfare of participants in research.
Contacts and Questions: For questions, concerns, or complaints about the study, or if you feel you have been harmed as a result of study participation, you may contact Michael Neblo at neblo.1@osu.edu.
For questions about your rights as a participant in this study or to discuss other study- related concerns or complaints with someone who is not part of the research team, you may contact the Office of Responsible Research Practices at 1-800-678-6251 or hsconcerns@osu.edu.
Providing Consent: I have read (or someone has read to me) this page and I am aware that I am being asked to participate in a research study. I have had the opportunity to ask questions and have had them answered to my satisfaction. I voluntarily agree to participate in this study. I am not giving up any legal rights by agreeing to participate.