A Study of Individual Differences in Moral Values

Information Page

Dear Potential Participant,

Welcome to a Study of Individual Differences in Moral Values! Below is some information that will briefly describe what this study is about and what would be expected from you should you decide to participate. Please note that participating in this study is optional. After reading the following information, you may decide to agree to participate in the study, or you may wish to decline.

If you are an undergraduate student at Lakehead University enrolled in psychology courses or a member of the general public who is 18 years old or older, you are invited to participate.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to explore how individual differences in social attitudes relate to a person’s moral values. The researcher conducting this study is Shayan Munawar-Syed, a masters student under the supervision of Dr. Laurence Fiddick, a professor in the Psychology Department at Lakehead University.

WHAT INFORMATION WILL BE COLLECTED?

First, we will ask you some information about your background (such as age and gender). The bulk of the questions in the study are about your opinions on a variety of social, cultural, and religious topics.

WHAT IS REQUESTED OF ME AS A PARTICIPANT?

It is expected that completing the study will require 60 minutes. The study will be entirely online on the SurveyMonkey website. You are encouraged to complete the study in a comfortable and private place, if possible. You will be asked to answer 204 questions truthfully to the best of your ability and to read all instructions before responding to any questions. You are also expected to complete the study individually without communicating with anyone else either in person or electronically.

WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS AS A PARTICIPANT?

You are under no obligation to participate and should you choose to participate, you are free to exit the study at any point. You will be able to have your data withdrawn up until the point of submitting your responses at the end of the study. The study consists of various parts with a brief introduction to each so that you can decide whether you would like to continue.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS AND BENEFITS?

You will acquire firsthand experience about the nature of experiments that you may find interesting. If you are a student, you may also find it relevant to your studies. Undergraduate students enrolled in eligible psychology courses at Lakehead University will also be granted one bonus mark for completing this study. This research could contribute to our basic understanding of individual differences in moral psychology.

We do not anticipate any physical risks to participants, however, some of the questions will ask you to evaluate descriptions of immoral acts that people could find objectionable.

HOW WILL MY CONFIDENTIALITY BE MAINTAINED?

Your individual responses will remain completely anonymous, even to the researchers. Although the results of this study might eventually be published in an academic journal, the statistics will present the aggregate results of the study -- in other words, the combined results provided by a group of participants -- and in no way will any responses be traceable to the particular participants that made them. However, given that the study will be conducted on Survey Monkey, which is run on American servers, all responses will potentially be viewable by security agencies in the United States.

Please note that the online survey tool used in the study, Survey Monkey, is hosted by a server located in the USA. The US Patriot Act permits U.S. law enforcement officials, for the purpose of anti-terrorism investigation, to seek a court order that allows access to the personal records of any person without the person’s knowledge. In view of this we cannot absolutely guarantee the full confidentiality and anonymity of your data.

WHAT WILL MY DATA BE USED FOR?

Data will be combined and used in statistical analyses to test research questions for Shayan’s masters thesis. The results of this study may be published in a peer review journal or as a conference presentation, presenting the data as anonymized statistics that cannot be traced back to any participant. Only Shayan and Dr. Fiddick will have access to the data.

WHERE WILL MY DATA BE STORED?

The data will be stored on an account on Dr. Fiddick’s password-protected SurveyMonkey account and the researchers’ personal computer, all of which are also password-protected. All

data will be stored in Dr. Fiddick’s office on Lakehead University’s campus for a minimum of 7 years following completion of the study.

HOW CAN I RECEIVE A COPY OF THE RESEARCH RESULTS?

If you are interested in viewing the results of the study after it is completed, you can email the researchers, Shayan or Dr. Fiddick. If the results are accepted for publication, you can also request to see a copy of the publication from the researchers. Their contact information is listed below and will be shown again at the end of the study.

WHAT IF I WANT TO WITHDRAW FROM THE STUDY?

Due to the anonymous nature of the survey, you will be unable to withdraw your data once you have submitted it as we cannot link your data back to you. You can however withdraw at any time during the survey by simply closing your browser.

RESEARCHER CONTACT INFORMATION:

Principal Investigator - Dr. Laurence Fiddick. Email: lfiddick@lakeheadu.ca
Master’s Student Researcher - Shayan Munawar-Syed. Email: smunawar@lakeheadu.ca

RESEARCH ETHICS BOARD REVIEW AND APPROVAL:

This research study has been reviewed and approved by the Lakehead University Research Ethics Board. If you have any questions related to the ethics of the research and would like to speak to someone outside of the research team, please contact Sue Wright at the Research Ethics Board at 807-343-8283 or research@lakeheadu.ca.