Study Title: Social Media Study
Principal Investigators: Dean Mobbs, PhD; Ian Anderson, PhD (iaanders@caltech.edu);
Sponsor of this research: Ian Anderson
The goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of online communication. If you have any questions about any part of this informed consent, please don't hesitate to ask the experimenters.
The study is designed to take around 50 minutes.
Participants in this study need to be at least 18 years old and are proficient in reading and writing in English.
The risk of participating in this study is minimal. Possible Benefits: There are no direct benefits to the people participating in this study. However, the results from this research will improve our understanding of online communication practices.
You will receive financial compensation (see Prolific rate) for completing this study. In case, you are unable to complete the study due to technical issues, we will ask you to return the study to receive partial payment based on your time and efforts. You will be responsible for any taxes assessed on the compensation.
Any identifying information in this study will be kept confidential. Below we detail the steps taken to protect your information.
We will protect your information by using an anonymous ID that will be associated with your survey data. Your online participant ID and any other information that can directly identify you will be stored separately from the data collected as part of the project. Data will be kept secure in password-protected computers only accessible to study personnel.
We will share your data or samples with other researchers for future research studies that may be similar or very different from this study. The data or samples shared with other researchers will not include information that can directly identify you.
We plan to publish the results of this study. To protect your privacy, we will not include any information that could directly identify you.
The data collected in this study will be maintained in Dean Mobbs' laboratory at Caltech. Reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that no unauthorized persons have access to the data generated by this research. Files relating to this study will be kept in a locked file and digital data will be password- protected.
Participation is voluntary. If participants change their mind during a study, they are free to withdraw consent and discontinue participation in this study at any time. Participants' decision to withdraw will not affect their relationship, if any, with the California Institute of Technology or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, nor will they be penalized or lose any of their benefits.
Participants do not have to answer any questions they do not want to answer. If participants decide to withdraw before the study is complete, their information will be removed from our study databases and any records will be purged from researchers' computers.
The principal investigators or their research associates have offered to answer questions regarding your participation in this research study. If you have any further questions, you can contact the investigator at 734-846-7430 (Ian Anderson), or the Caltech Institutional Review Board Administrator at (626)395-8448 or at irb@caltech.edu.
This study has been reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the California Institute of Technology. A representative of that board, from the IRB Office, is available to discuss the review process or your rights as a research subject. The telephone number of the IRB office is 626-395-8448 and their email is irb@caltech.edu.
I have read the above information and have received answers to any questions I ask. If you consent to take part in the study, please provide your Prolific ID below.