Consent Form
This study involves a web-based experiment designed to understand the relationship between the amount an individual allocates into social media and ongoing addictive behaviors.  Does social media consumption influence an individual to exhibit addictive behaviors?  This study is being conducted by Yoap Paredes under the supervision of Dr. Jeffrey Blum of Los Angeles City College Psychology Department. This survey research is being conducted as a requirement of the Psychology 74 Research Methods course. No deception is involved, and the study involves no expected risks to participants. You cannot take part in this study if you are under the age of 18.
Participation in this study typically takes 5 to 10 minutes and is strictly anonymous. Participants begin by answering questions about their social media consumption, after which they complete several additional questions assessing characteristics of addictive behaviors.
All responses are treated as confidential, and in no case will responses from individual participants be identified. Rather, all data will be pooled and published in aggregate form only. Participants should be aware, however, that the experiment is not being run from a "secure" https server of the kind typically used to handle credit card transactions, so there is a small possibility that responses could be viewed by unauthorized third parties (e.g., computer hackers).
Many individuals find participation in this study enjoyable, and no adverse reactions have been reported thus far. By participating in this study you are helping to expand our knowledge of psychological constructs while gaining a greater understanding of the process of psychological assessment. Visitors to this web site are welcome to complete the study, although they will receive no credit or monetary compensation. Participation is voluntary, refusal to take part in the study involves no penalty or loss of benefits to which participants are otherwise entitled, and participants may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which they are otherwise entitled.
If participants have further questions about this study or their rights they may contact the principal investigator, Professor Jeffrey Blum, Ph.D., at (323) 953-4000 X2932; blumjs@lacitycollege.edu.
If you are 18 years of age or older, understand the statements above, and freely consent to participate in the study, click on the "I Agree" button to begin the experiment.  If you do not consent to participating in this study, click on “I Do Not Agree” and please exit form and restart your browser.