The Transition to Extended Family: Parent, In-Law, and Marital Dyad Communication
Informed Consent
Dear Participant,
You are invited to participate in a research study about in-law relationships, which is being conducted by Sylvia L. Mikucki (a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Professor Christine Rittenour (University of West Virginia). This project will examine how you feel about the upcoming changes to your extended family, nuclear family, and your relationship with your fiancé.
You are eligible to participate if you are 18 years of age older and are currently engaged to be married for the first time. Your participation is completely voluntary and you may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. You may also skip any questions that you do not wish to answer. The decision to participate, decline, or withdraw from participation will have no effect on your grades at, status at, or future relations with the University of Illinois or West Virginia University.
Participation involves completing a questionnaire which should take approximately 20-25 minutes. The survey contains four sections. In the first part, you will be asked to provide background information about yourself, your fiancé, your parent(s), and your future parent(s)-in-law. In the second section you will be asked questions about your relationship with your future parent(s)-in-law. In the third section you will be asked questions about your relationship with parent(s). Finally, in the fourth section you will be asked to describe if and how your relationship with your in-laws has affected your relationship with your fiancé. You may complete the questionnaire at the time and location of your choosing.
At the end of the survey you will be given the opportunity to enter a raffle for a chance to win one of four $25.00 gift cards to a national retailer. If you chose to enter the raffle, you will be directed to a separate survey site. This site is completely separate from the original study you completed and responses from the original study cannot be connected to the raffle survey in any way.
We do not expect that participating in this study poses any risks beyond those of everyday life, but you may experience feelings of sadness, discomfort, or anxiety when thinking about your relationships. If thinking about your relationship with your child or child-in-law makes you uncomfortable or causes you distress, free assistance is available to you through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (1-800-950-6264).
Your responses will be kept confidential. You should not enter any information on the questionnaire that could identify you. To ensure confidentiality, the on-line questionnaire is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypted, which allows for secure transmission of data over the internet. In addition, the link you have used to access the survey blocks information regarding the IP address of the computer you are using. Once you submit your responses, there is no way we can identify who completed the survey.
You may not benefit from this study personally, but the study may benefit society as a whole by providing a better understanding of in-law relationships. Results may be published in scholarly journals or presented at scholarly conferences, but no identifying information will be included.
Please feel free to ask questions about this research at any time. You may contact me, Sylvia L. Mikucki (mikucki2@illinois.edu), or Professor Christine Rittenour (304-293-8667, Christine.Rittenour@mail.wvu.edu). If you have questions about your rights as a participant, you may contact the University of Illinois Institutional Review Board (p: 217-333-2670, e: irb@illinois.edu), which will accept collect calls if you identify yourself as a research participant.
Clicking below and continuing the survey certifies that you have agreed to participate, have read and understood the information presented above, and are 18 years of age or older. You should print a copy of this text for your records.