Informed Consent

Facebook and Relationships Study

[Purpose]
You are being asked to participate in a research study how people interact on Facebook and how that may be related to aspects of their romantic relationship.  The purpose of this research is to understand how people’s relationships might affect or be affected by their partner’s Facebook behavior and to create a dataset for training undergraduate research methods students. You were selected as a possible participant because you volunteered by choosing this study from the Communication Department Participant Pool.  Please read this form and ask any questions that you may have before agreeing to be in the research.

[Information about Participants’ Involvement in the Study]
The study will take place in entirely online. It should take you approximately 10 minutes to complete the research study but you will receive 20 minutes of research credit.

If you agree to be a participant in this research, we would ask you to respond to a number of questions about your own Instagram use and about the romantic relationship you are currently in.

[Risks]
This research has the following risks:  You may feel upset by considering certain aspects of your relationships. These questions or similar questions have been included in previous studies without any adverse effects found by the researcher or reported in other studies.  

[Benefits]
The benefits of participation are you may gain insight into your romantic relationships. Society will better understand how people interact online.

[Compensation]
You will not receive any monetary compensation for participation. But you will receive 20 minutes of research participation credit.

[Confidentiality]
The information in this research will be kept confidential. Your name or other identifying information will not be collected with the survey data. On the last page of the survey, you will be provided with a link to a separate survey maintained by the Subject Pool coordinator to enter your information to receive research credit. The anonymous data will be made available to any researchers interested in examining these findings and deposited in a public archive. No reference will be made in oral or written reports that could link participants to the research.

[Voluntary Participation]
You do not have to perform any activity you do not want to. You do not have to answer any question you do not want to answer. Participation in this study is voluntary. If you decide to participate, you may withdraw from the study at anytime without penalty and without loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

Contact Information:
If there are any questions at any time about the study or the procedures, or you experience adverse effects as a result of participating in this study, please contact: Christopher J. Carpenter, PhD, Department of Communication, Office QC2131, Western Illinois University QC, Moline, IL. cj-carpenter2@wiu.edu
This project has been reviewed and approved by the WIU Institutional Review Board. Questions concerning your rights as a participant in this research may be directed to Compliance Specialist, at (309) 298-1191 or IRB@wiu.edu.
Consent:
I have read the above information, and I have received a copy of this form. I agree to participate in this study.

Please click here to continue with the survey