Informed Consent - Survey

1. You are invited to participate in the following research project.
2. This research project is looking at the faith questions of Christian students in Canadian universities and colleges.  This research is being conducted by Stephen Bedard as a part of the Doctor of Ministry program at Acadia Divinity College.  My supervisors are Dr. Anna Robbins and Dr. Jody Linkletter. The participant is asked only to respond to the survey and there will be no further expectations. The survey will not take more than 30 minutes.
3. There are no risks to participants as no personal information will be recorded and your answers will not be identifiable.  You will benefit both in furthering research in an important area and also be receiving a free e-book for participating. If you are employed and completing the survey on a computer from your place of employment, your employer may be legally allowed to view your responses.
4. You are under no obligation to participate and are free to withdraw at any time before completion of the survey without penalty. Once the survey is complete and submitted, you will not be able to withdraw your data.
5. There is no conflict of interest on behalf of the researcher and there is no intention of commercializing the research findings.
6. All of the research results will be gathered by an online survey program.  The participants will not be identified either directly or indirectly.  All of the data will be anonymous.
7. Questions about the survey can be addressed to: Stephen Bedard at stephenbedard@hotmail.com or at 289-362-6012.
8. Any ethical concerns regarding this research can be addressed to: Dr. Stephen Maitzen at smaitzen@acadiau.ca or 902.585.1407.
9. The type of information that will be collected will be on the types of faith questions that Christian university students are asking.  No one, including the researcher, will have access to the identity of the participants.  Names or other identifying markers will not be collected.  The research data collected will be used to identify the concerns of Christian university students and to create a curriculum that addresses those concerns.
10. Participants in this research will receive a free e-book as compensation.  A link to the location of the e-book will be provided within the survey so that no email addresses are required to receive the incentive.
11. By consenting, participants have not waived any rights to legal recourse in the event of research-related harm.

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* 1. Gender

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* 2. Denomination

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* 3. What is your age?

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* 4. How many years have you had a personal Christian faith?

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* 5. What type of post-secondary school do you attend?

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* 6. How confident are you in the existence of God?

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* 7. How has your university experience affected your faith? (1 is very hostile, 2 is somewhat hostile, 3 is neutral, 4 is somewhat helpful and 5 is very helpful) - These are the options for questions 7-10.

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* 8. How often do you encounter opposition to your faith? (1 is not at all and 5 is very often)

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* 9. How confident were you in the truth of Christianity before attending college/university? (1 is very doubtful and 5 is very confident)

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* 10. How confident are you in the truth of Christianity now? (1 is very doubtful and 5 is very confident)

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* 11. If you could receive an answer to one question that would strengthen your faith, what would that question be?

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* 12. How important are these issues to you? (Please rank these choices in order with 1 being the LEAST important and 8 being the MOST important)

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* 13. How important are these issues to the people you know? (Please rank these choices in order with 1 being the LEAST important and 8 being the MOST important)

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* 14. Are there issues that you struggle with that are not mentioned in the previous question?

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* 15. What faith issue do you feel equipped to respond to? (Please rank these choices in order with 1 being the LEAST equipped and 8 being the MOST equipped)

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* 16. How seriously do these experiences have a negative effect on your faith? (Please rank these choices in order with 1 being the LEAST negative and 4 being the MOST negative)

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* 17. How effective are these methods of learning for you? (Please rank these choices in order with 1 being the LEAST effective and 5 being the MOST effective)

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* 18. Are you currently involved with a church?

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* 19. Are you currently involved with a faith-based campus group?

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* 20. Who are you most likely to go to for answers to faith questions? (Please rank these choices in order with 1 being the LEAST likely and 5 being the MOST likely)

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* 21. How could your church or campus group better equip you to be more confident in your faith?

Thank you for completing this survey. You are welcome to download a free version of my book Experiencing God Without Losing Your Mind. If you have a problem downloading the eBook, email me at stephenbedard@hotmail.com.

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