Hello!  As authors of this MOOC, we would like to ask you if you would be willing to help us. We – Dr Alison Porter, University of Southampton; Professor Florence Myles, University of Essex; Professor Suzanne Graham, University of Reading – are all members of the Research in Primary Languages Network (RiPL), and we are developing case studies that show how research can support teachers in developing young learners’ progression and motivation.  We would be very interested in your feedback on those issues.

The findings from this project will be summarised in our Impact Case Study Reports that will be submitted to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021UK, but we would also like to obtain your consent to use these data in future REF exercises and in additional academic publications (e.g. a journal article or a book chapter).  In the first instance, you’ll be asked to fill out a short online questionnaire which should take no more than 10 minutes.

Before you start please read below:
a. The REF Impact Privacy Notice for Non Staff (additional information can be accessed at https://ripl.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Addendum-Ethics.pdf);
b. The Ethics Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form.

If you are happy to proceed, you should then tick the appropriate box to give consent, at the start of the questionnaire.  

If you would like to know more about the study and/or its findings, please email A.Porter@soton.ac.uk or fmyles@essex.ac.uk.

Introduction
The purpose of the Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF2021) is to assess the quality of UK research and to inform the selective distribution of public funds for research by the four UK higher education funding bodies. The REF outcomes are used to calculate about £2 billion per year of public funding for universities’ research, and affect their international reputations. The results also inform strategic decisions about national research priorities. The next REF will be undertaken in 2021.

Data collection
The Universities of Southampton, Essex and Reading (University) collate REF2021-related data for the purposes of managing, analysing and communicating our REF2021 submission to Research England. The Universities are ‘data controllers’. This means we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use information about you.
Research England is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and under this arrangement UKRI has the role of ‘data controller’ for personal data submitted by us to the REF.
We have prepared this Privacy Notice to make you aware of how and why your personal data will be used for REF2021 in compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Data processing for REF2021 is undertaken in the fulfilment of our public task for purposes that include:
• Annual, internal REF-benchmarking exercises
• Analyses of benchmarking data to identify our readiness and/or areas for improvement
• Optimisation of our REF2021 submission
• Submission of REF2021 data to Research England
In 2021 we will send information about impact case studies to UKRI for the purpose of the REF2021. The information will not be in coded form and your name - and details such as your job title, organisational affiliation and corroborating testimonial - may be provided in these narrative statements.  We refer to this information about you as ‘your data’.
You can find further information about what data are being collected on the REF website, at www.ref.ac.uk in particular publication 2019/01, ‘Guidance on submissions’. Annex G of that document sets out the data that we will be required to share with UKRI.

Any information you give will be kept completely confidential and in no cases will responses from individual participants be identified. As with any piece of research it is important to consider whether there are any risks to participants. This study involves minimal risk to participants (i.e., the level of risk encountered in daily life). There may be no direct benefit to you other than the sense of helping the public at large and contributing to knowledge.
Whilst your name and other identifying details will not be shared in any academic publications, these details could be made available in the REF reports (see above).  Personal information such as names and job title would appear in the public REF reports against specific quotations attributed to you, but additional information such as email addresses would not be shared with any external organisations beyond our research partners (University of Essex and Reading).
You should be aware, however, that this survey 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 unauthorised third parties (e.g., computer hackers). However, the data would appear only as a string of numbers.
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 you have further questions about this study, you may contact the principal investigators, Dr Alison Porter at A.Porter@soton.ac.uk or Professor Florence Myles at the University of Essex fmyles@essex.ac.uk.

If participants have further questions about their rights or if they wish to lodge a complaint or concern, they may contact RIG Manager, RIG Team, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ. (Phone: 02380 595058, Email: rgoinfo@soton.ac.uk)

For information about how the University of Southampton collects and uses your personal information when you take part in one of our research projects, please see our Privacy Statement: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/assets/sharepoint/intranet/ls/Public/Research%20and%20Integrity%20Privacy%20Notice/Privacy%20Notice%20for%20Research%20Participants.pdf

I have read and understood the information about this study.  In consenting, I understand that my legal rights are not affected. I also understand that data collected as part of this research will be kept confidential and that published results will maintain that confidentiality. Lastly, I understand that if I have any questions about my rights as a participant in this research, or if I feel that I have been placed at risk, I may contact Prof. Fiona Woollard, the Chair of the Ethics Committee, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK. Email: F.Woollard@soton.ac.uk.