Dear (Insert Person S Name, Or for Example, Employee of XYZ Association)

Department letterhead

Dear (insert person’s name, or for example, employee of XYZ association):

This letter is an invitation to participate in a research study. As a part-time Ph.D. student in the Department of (insert department name) at the University of Waterloo, I am currently conducting research under the supervision of Professor (insert name) on watershed management approaches in Canada and the effect of watershed report cards on decision making. I am also an employee of the ABC Organization.

Study Overview

A healthy, functioning watershed provides the basic life-support system for all forms of life (aquatic, terrestrial and human). Finding better methods of managing watersheds to protect critical watershed functions is essential for ensuring societal well-being into the future. The purpose of this study is to learn how watershed organizations in Canada define, practice and measure environmental health and sustainability, with a view to providing some insights about how watershed planning and management can be improved.

The research will be carried out in two parts. First, a survey will be sent to key people in several organizations responsible for watershed management and the state of watershed reporting in Canada. The purpose of the survey will be to find out about the decision-making processes in each watershed organization and to solicit opinions about the impact of report cards/state of the watershed reports on decision-making (current and potential) in the XYZ basin. Second, a survey and interviews will be conducted with key people in watershed organizations, municipalities, and other agencies involved in sustainability/environmental reporting to explore in more detail, what influence watershed report cards have on decision making in two watershed case studies.

I would like to study the XYZ Watershed as one of my case studies since the XYZ Council has developed several watershed report cards which seek to measure progress toward sustainability. As the Executive Director for XYZ Council, you play an important role in the management of the XYZ Watershed, and your input would provide key information and opinions to this study. I would like to invite you to participate in a survey and in-person interview.

Your Involvement

The survey includes questions about the organizational structure of the XYZ Council, the watershed vision and planning process, goals and objectives, data collection and analysis, and watershed report cards. I have researched the answers to factual questions and inserted the answers into the survey to reduce the time required for you to complete it, although I would ask that you review the answers for accuracy. You may wish to consult other staff in your organization regarding any factual questions, but I would ask that any opinions expressed be your own.

If you agree to participate, I will follow up with you after you have received the survey, to review any questions or concerns you may have and to seek your advice about whether or not other staff should be interviewed and who I should interview from your Board of Directors. All interviews will be conducted in person. After you have completed and submitted the survey, I will contact you again to arrange an in-person interview with you to review your answers and provide you with an opportunity to add additional comments and clarification. I will be scheduling in-person interviews commencing (insert date).

The interview would last about one hour and would be arranged at a time convenient to your schedule. To ensure the accuracy of your input, I would ask your permission to audio record the interview.

Participation in the survey and interview is entirely voluntary and there are no known or anticipated risks to participation in this study. You may decline to answer any of the questions you do not wish to answer. Further, you may decide to withdraw from this study at any time, without any negative consequences, simply by letting me know your decision. All information you provide will be considered confidential unless otherwise agreed to, and the data collected will be kept in a secure location and confidentially disposed of in five years time.

Your name and the name of your organization will not appear in any thesis or publication resulting from this study unless you provide express consent to be identified and have reviewed the thesis text and approved the use of the quote. After the data have been analyzed, you will receive a copy of the executive summary. If you would be interested in greater detail, an electronic copy (e.g., PDF) of the entire thesis can be made available to you.

Contact Information

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee (ORE#XXXXX - insert your ORE file # here).If you have questions for the Committee contact the Chief Ethics Officer, Office of Research Ethics, at 1-519-888-4567 ext. 36005 or .

For all other questions or if you would like additional information about participation, please contact me at (insert phone #) or by email (insert email). You can also contact my supervisor Professor (insert name) by telephone at 1-519-888-4567 ext. xxxxx or by email at (insert email).

Thank you in advance for your interest and assistance with this research.

Yours very truly,

Name

PhD Candidate

CONSENT FORM

By signing this consent form, you are not waiving your legal rights or releasing the investigator(s) or involved institution(s) from their legal and professional responsibilities.

______

I have read the information presented in the information letter about a study being conducted by (insert name of student investigator) of the Department of (insert name)at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Professor (insert name). I have had an opportunity to ask any questions related to this study, to receive satisfactory answers to my questions, and any additional details I wanted.

I am aware that I have the option of allowing my interview to be audio recorded to ensure an accurate recording of my responses.

I am also aware that excerpts from the survey and/or interview may be included in the thesis and/or publications to come from the research, with the understanding that quotations will be either anonymous or attributed to me only with my review and approval.

I was informed that I may withdraw my consent at any time without penalty by advising the researcher.

For all other questions contact [insert researcher’s name and contact information].

With full knowledge of all foregoing, I agree, of my own free will, to participate in this study.

YesNo

I agree to have the in-person interview and any follow-up telephone conversations audio-recorded.

YesNo

I agree to the use of anonymous quotations in any thesis or publication that comes of this research.

YesNo

I agree to the use of direct quotations attributed to me only with my review and approval.

YesNo

Participant Name: ______(Please print)

Participant Signature: ______

Witness Name: ______(Please print)

Witness Signature: ______

Date: ______