Research and your rights
· It is for you to decide if you want to talk to me.
· You do not have to say 'yes'.
· If you do say 'yes', you do not have to do the whole interview.
· We could stop when you want to , or have a break.
· If you do not want to answer some of the questions, you can just say
· 'pass'.
· Before you decide whether to help me, you might like to talk about this
project with your parents or with a friend.
· I will keep tapes and notes of the interviews in a safe, lockable place.
· When I talk about the research and write reports, I always change people's
names, to keep their views anonymous.
· I would not talk to anyone you know about what you have said, unless you
talk about the risk of someone being harmed. If so, I would talk with you
first about what could be done to help.
(Alderson 2007: 106, )2008)
Dear student,
Thank you for being willing to help us with our project. We are interested to find out what you think about your writing and how you write. All the information you give us will be used to write reports and articles, perhaps a book, about students’ writing. We hope that you will enjoy being involved.
In this letter, we ask you to confirm that you are happy to be involved, and that you have been fully informed about the aims and purposes of the project, by reading the statement below and signing to confirm your agreement.
I understand that:
q I do not have to participate in this research project and, if I do choose to participate, I may at any stage withdraw my participation;
q I have the right to refuse permission for the publication of any information about me;
q any information which I give will be used only for the purposes of this research project: This includes publications and presentations;
q the information I give may be shared with other researchers participating in this project
q If my words or writing are referred to the researchers will use a pseudonym (a false name)
q samples of my writing may be used in publications;
q all information I give will be treated as confidential, unless I disclose any issue which needs to be reported to the school Child Protection officer;
q the researchers will make every effort to preserve my anonymity.
I agree that I am happy to participate in this project.
Signed: ………………………………………………………
Date: ………………………………………………………….