Purpose: You are invited to participate in a study of psychological experiences, such as certain fears, concerns, and emotional reactions; as well as related beliefs, attitudes, and thoughts, encountered by most individuals. We hope to learn more not only about how common people experience various psychological experiences and reactions, but also how they can be measured for future research and mental health services. An additional purpose of this survey is to help us identify individuals, perhaps like yourself, who may be eligible to participate in other projects we are also conducting. You will be asked at the end of the survey if you would like to be contacted in the event you are eligible to participate in some of these other studies, and if so, to provide us with an email address for the purpose of doing so.
Participant Selection: You were selected as a possible participant in this study because you are at least 18 years of age and you live in the greater Wichita area. By the end of this project, we hope to survey around 1,000 people such as yourself.
Explanation of Procedures: We anticipate that it will take 20-30 minutes to complete the survey. If you choose to do so, you will be first asked to provide some background information about yourself concerning your age, sex, gender, educational level, and ethnic/racial status. The remainder of the survey consists of 7 brief questionnaires designed to assess differing psychological reactions and experiences that most of us encounter to varying degrees. As mentioned earlier, you will be asked at the completion of the survey if you would like to be notified about other projects you may be eligible to participate in based upon your responses to the survey. In order for us to do so, you will also be asked to provide an email address for contacting you.
Discomfort Risk: It is possible that some of the questions on the survey may strike you as somewhat strange or unusual. It is also possible that you may encounter some mild discomfort in reflecting on some of your psychological experiences and in how you typically deal with unwanted thoughts and feelings. However, we believe that any discomfort you may experience in completing the survey will be minimal, that it will in all likelihood quickly fade following your completion of it, and that there are no clear costs associated with your participation other than the time involved in completing the survey. You may also minimize any such discomfort by skipping over any questions you feel uncomfortable in answering. If at any point you feel too distressed to continue the study, please inform the researcher and you may discontinue your participation without penalty. If the distress continues after you discontinue or finish participation, you may wish to contact the Wichita State University Counseling and Testing Center. They are located in Grace Wilkie Hall room 320, phone number (316)-978-3440, email Wanda.Holt@wichita.edu.
Benefits: You have the option to either receive 2 SONA credits for your participation or to be entered into a drawing for the chance to win a $40 gift card to Amazon.com. SONA credits are one of several opportunities available to you through which you may earn extra credit or research participation points within a psychology course at WSU you may be taking. If you choose not to participate, your instructor will offer you an alternative activity for equivalent course credit. While there are no clear personal benefits that you can reasonably expect to derive through your participation in this project, we hope that the survey findings will help us better understand common psychological experiences and ultimately better assist those who may encounter difficulties in dealing with them.
Confidentiality: Every effort will be made to keep your study-related information confidential. However, in order to make sure that the study is done properly and safely, there may be circumstances where this information must be released. By consenting to participate in this study, you are giving the research team permission to share information about you with the following groups:
- Office for Human Research Protections or other federal, state, or international regulatory agencies;
- The Wichita State University Institutional Review Board.
The researchers may publish the results of this study. If they do, they will only discuss group results. Your name will not be used in any publication or presentation about the study.
We will work to make sure that no one sees your survey responses without approval. But, because we are using the Internet, there is a chance that someone could access your online responses without permission. In some cases, this information could be used to identify you. Your data will be protected with a code to reduce the risk that other people can view the responses.
Refusal/Withdrawal: Your participation in the survey is entirely voluntary and you may discontinue your participation at any point at your discretion without penalty. Your decision to withhold or withdraw your participation in the survey will
not affect your future relations with Wichita State University and/or the Department of Psychology.
Contact: If you have any questions about this research, you can contact:
Dr. Robert D. Zettle of the Department of Psychology (Primary researcher): Office JB 411; Phone: 978-3081; e-mail: robert.zettle@wichita.edu.
Eric Richardson of the Department of Psychology (secondary researcher): Office JB 404; Phone: 978-5008; e-mail:
Ebrichardson@wichita.edu
Yvonne Chaw (secondary researcher): e-mail:
jxchaw@shockers.wichita.edu
Kyle Rexer (secondary researcher): e-mail:
kgrexer@shockers.wichita.edu
Danette Abernathy (secondary researcher): e-mail:
dxabernathy@shockers.wichita.edu
If you have questions pertaining to your rights as a research subject or about any research-related injury, you can contact the Office of Research and Technology Transfer at Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount Street, Wichita, KS 67260-0007, telephone (316) 978-3285.
You are under no obligation to participate in this study. By selecting “Yes” on the following question, you are indicating that:
- You have read (or someone has read to you) the information provided above,
- You are aware that this is a research study,
- You have voluntarily decided to participate.