Informed Consent Form

Research Project Title: Podcasts and User Listening Practices

Ethics Application Number: 2016s0317

Investigators:

Yasamin Heshmat Dehkordi, SIAT, Simon Fraser University, yhesmat@sfu.ca

Lillian Yang, SIAT, Simon Fraser University, lya59@sfu.ca

This consent form should give you the basic idea of what the research is about and what your participation will involve. If you would like more detail about something mentioned here, or information not included here, you should feel free to ask the investigator(s). Please take the time to read this carefully and to understand the information.

Purpose:

The goal of our study is to investigate user routines around the listening of podcasts where we explore when and where people listen to podcasts, what other activities are occurring while they listen, why they choose to listen from a certain location and at a certain time, what their personalities are like, and how they learn about and share knowledge of podcasts with others. We want to use this knowledge to design new podcast-like technologies that fit within the needs and routines that users have for asynchronous media consumption.

Participant Recruitment and Selection

To take part in this study you must be over the age of 18 and have listened to or listen to podcasts currently.

Study Method

The survey may be completed online.

Your Participation

The survey should take 20-30 minutes of your time.

If you agree to participate, you will be free to withdraw at any time for any reason. If you choose to withdraw from the study your data will be deleted immediately if you desire.

Research results, such as published papers, can be obtained by contacting: Lillian Yang, lya59@sfu.ca

What Type of Personal Information Will Be Collected?

Confidentiality will be strictly maintained. Any data collected will be labeled with an anonymous participant ID.

Are There Risks or Benefits if I Participate?

The risks of participation are intended to be none or minimal. The survey questions are not expected to be privacy intrusive as most podcast activities are relatively mundane. There is a chance that you may listen to particular podcasts that you are not comfortable in having others know about (e.g., podcasts about personal issues); as such, you are able to disclose as much or as little as you like about your podcast listening activities.

What Happens to the Information I Provide?

No one except the researchers and their assistants will be allowed to see or hear any of the answers to the survey.

All information collected will be anonymized. No identifying information will be kept alongside the data. The consent forms will be stored and secured separately from the de-identified research data.

Where individual participant data is disclosed, we will ensure that the selected data does not suggest participant identities.

Acceptance of this Form

Your completion of this form indicates that you 1) understand to your satisfaction the information provided to you about your participation in this research project, and 2) agree to participate as a research subject.

In no way does this waive your legal rights nor release the investigators or involved institutions from their legal and professional responsibilities. You are free to withdraw from this research project at any time. You should feel free to ask for clarification or new information throughout your participation.

To accept this form, please check the box below, and type your name and today's date in the following boxes as a form of digital signature.

By clicking the button below, you are consenting to participate in the research and will be redirected to the podcast survey.

If you do not wish to participate in the study, or do not consent, please close this window in your web browser

Questions/Concerns

If you have any concerns about the way you've been treated as a participant or concerns with the research project, please contact Dr. Jeff Toward, Associate Director of the Office of Research Ethics: jtoward@sfu.ca or 778-782-6593.