Informed Consent Form
You are invited to participate in a research study entitled Absorptive Capacity Among Small-Business Information Security Professionals Facing AI-Driven Threats: A Quantitative Study. You were selected as a potential participant due to your membership in a social media group focused on information security or small business. Please read this form and ask any questions you may have before acting on this invitation to participate in the study.
This study is being conducted by Frederick McCollum, a doctoral candidate at the University of the Cumberlands (UC), and has been approved by the UC Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Background Information:
The purpose of this study is to study is to assess if knowledge acquisition, assimilation, and transformation are correlated with the exploitation of knowledge among small business information security professionals in the United States. The study will involve approximately 200 participants.
Inclusion Criteria:
You can participate in this study if you:
- Are at least 18 years of age.
- Are currently employed at an organization that is based in the United States with fewer than 500 employees.
- Directly contribute to your organization's efforts to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its information, regardless of your formal job title or role.
- Are not personally acquainted with, related to, or employed by the researcher conducting this study.
Procedures:
If you agree to be in this study, you will be asked to complete an online survey that is expected take no more than 15 minutes.
Voluntary Nature of the Study:
Your participation in this study is strictly voluntary. Your decision whether or not to participate will not affect your current or future relations with this social media group or the University of the Cumberlands. If you initially decide to participate, you are free to withdraw at any time later without affecting those relationships.
Risks and Benefits of Participation:
There is no more than minimal risk associated with participating in this study, and there is no individual benefit to participation in the study. However, study findings may provide an overall benefit by contributing to broader knowledge and the improvement of small business information security practices.
In the event you experience stress or anxiety during your participation in the study, you may terminate your participation at any time. You may refuse to answer any questions you consider invasive or stressful. Survey responses are kept anonymous, and you may elect to withdraw your responses at the conclusion of the survey.
Compensation:
There will be no compensation provided for your participation in this study.
Confidentiality:
Any data or records gathered from your participation will be kept private. Any identifiable data gathered will be coded to protect your identity. The survey questions do not collect any personally identifiable information. Additionally, the survey has been configured not to track respondents’ IP addresses. In any report of this study that might be published, the researcher will not include any information that will make it possible to identify you. Research records will be securely stored on a password-protected computer and a secure file share. Research records will only be accessible to the researcher and the researcher’s faculty advisors. Research records will be deleted three years after the study is completed.