If you begin or complete the survey and do not want your data to be included, you can indicate these wishes at the end of the survey, and we will manually delete your data. Because there are no personal identifiers, there is no additional opportunity to delete your data after your survey is closed, as we have no way of knowing which data are yours. We will keep our study records for a minimum of seven years. All records will be destroyed according to University of Waterloo policy.
These data, which do not contain any identifying information, will be exchanged between researchers and research assistants/apprentices. The shared data will be anonymous, and will have no identifying information. This information will be kept on the researchers/assistants/apprentices password-protected computers. In keeping with university and funding policies that are continuously evolving, anonymous datasets may be posted to a data repository, made available to the public, and/or made available to a researcher/apprentice/student at another institution/journal referee who requests the data. This survey uses Survey Monkey (TM), which is an American Company. When information is transmitted over the Internet, privacy cannot be guaranteed. There is always a risk your responses may be intercepted by a third party (e.g., government agencies, hackers). University of Waterloo researchers will not collect or use internet protocol (IP) addresses or other information which could link your participation to your computer or electronic device without first informing you.
To thank you for you participation in any of our studies, you will have a chance to win an Amazon gift card. To be entered in the draw for one (of up to ten) $25 Amazon.com gift cards, please leave your email with us at www.surveymonkey.com/r/fursciencethankyou. The chances of winning will depend on the number of responses, but we aim to give away 1 gift card for every 300 responses to our studies. You may write this link down now, but it will also be provided to you at the end of the survey. In order to be eligible for the gift card draw you will need to submit a valid email address which will NOT be associated with your responses (the link is for a separate survey). We are informing you that for tax purposes, if you are a gift card winner, the amount received is taxable. It is your responsibility to report this amount for income tax purposes.
There are no known risks for participating in this study. It is possible that some questions (e.g., sexual orientation, gender identity, wellbeing) could make you feel some discomfort. Please remember that you are free to skip any and all questions in this study and still submit your name for the draw. Your participation will have the benefit of contributing our understanding of the furry fandom and related anthropomorphic topics, knowledge which will hopefully benefit both the furry community and the field of psychology. Findings from this research will be made available at the International Anthropomorphic Research Project Website at: www.furscience.com/research-findings.
This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee (ORE# 22246). If you have questions for the Committee contact the Office of Research Ethics, at 1-519-888-4567 ext. 36005 or ore-ceo@uwaterloo.ca.
