You are being asked to participate in a research study about how parents share parenting (coparenting).
The purpose of the study is to explore coparenting across family dynamics to help us better understand how parents cooperate and support, or work against, each other in parenting their child(ren).
Please read the following information before agreeing to be in the study. If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to complete an online survey which should take about 20-30 minutes of your time. You can complete it online or on a device we provide.
The questions ask about everyday coparenting behaviors, and they are expected to cause little to mild distress or discomfort. Parents who realize they are not co-parenting as much or as well as they would like to could experience discomfort, but the questions are unlikely to be upsetting.
A list of internet sites and books on coparenting will be provided at the end of the study if you wish to learn more. While there are no direct financial benefits for participating in this study, you might learn about how you co-parent in your own family, which could lead you to make positive changes in your relationships. After completing the survey, you will have the opportunity to provide your name and contact information so we can include you in a drawing for an Amazon gift card. The collection of your contact information for the purpose of this drawing will not be connected to the survey to ensure your survey responses remain confidential and anonymous.
Your responses to the survey will be strictly anonymous. Your name is not attached to your responses, and no one can connect your responses to you. This anonymous research may be presented at professional conferences or published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The decision to participate in this study is entirely up to you. You may refuse to take part in the study at any time without affecting your relationship with the investigators of this study or Smith College. Your decision will not result in any loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.
You have the right not to answer any single question, as well as to exit out of the survey at any time before submitting it. Because your participation in this study is anonymous, it will not be possible to withdraw your survey answers from the study after you have submitted the survey.
You have the right to ask questions about this research study and to have those questions answered before, during or after the research. If you have questions, feel free to contact Professor Marsha Kline Pruett at (413) 585-7997 or mpruett@smith.edu. If you’d like, a summary of the results of the study can be sent to you. Email Professor Marsha Kline Pruett and provide your name and email address, and she will send you an electronic copy of results when we have completed the study. By contacting us, the researchers will know you participated in the study, but your name will not be connected to your responses.
If you have any other concerns about your rights as a research participant that have not been answered, or if you have any problems or concerns that occur as a result of your participation, you may contact the Smith College Institutional Review Board at irb@smith.edu or (413) 585-3562. Alternatively, concerns can be reported by completing a Participant Complaint Form, which can found on the IRB website at https://www.smith.edu/academics/institutional-review-board/compliance
If you would like to keep a copy of this document for your records, please print or save this page now. You may also contact the researcher to request a copy.