Web-based Survey - In person Focus Group Consent

Document Approved On: 03/04/11 Project Approval Expires On: 03/03/12

Model Consent: In Person Focus Group

Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health

Consent to be a Research Subject

Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level: 8.1

Title: Web-based HIV behavioral trend analysis among MSM: Focus Group

Principal Investigator: Patrick Sullivan, PhD DVM

Funding Sources: Emory University, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Manila Consulting

Introduction

You are being invited to be in a research study being conducted by Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health since you have told us that you are a man who has sex with men and is over 18 years of age. We expect to have 10 men in the focus group today. If you decide to participate, the things we learn from you today will help improve an online men’s health study.

Purpose

This study is will tell us more about what men think about being in an online HIV research study. We want to know how we can make online ads to recruit people into the study and how we can make the online study easy and comfortable for men to participate. In the online study we would ask about the use of technology, interest in and knowledge of different HIV prevention methods and general health and sex health among men who have sex with men (MSM). The purpose of today’s study is to help find out the best ways to get men to join the online study and ideas on how to best conduct that study.

We expect to have 15 men volunteer today. We will choose 10 men to participate in the group discussion. The five participants that are not chosen for the focus group activities will be given a token of our appreciation and will be free to leave for the day. The discussion will last around 1.5 hours and will be recorded. We will ask your opinion of different online ad ideas. We also want to get your thoughts on how men who have sex with men use the internet for different reasons. We are not asking you to be in the online study at this time. We want you to share your ideas that will help us best advertise the online study to others.

Procedures

If you decide to be in the focus group, you will be asked to fill in a short survey that will ask you about your age, race, experiences with and feelings about taking online surveys, and what media you use. We will use your answers to choose men to be in the focus group. It will take about a minute for you to complete the survey. It will take about 10 minutes for the research team to look it over. If we pick you to be in the group discussion, you will be invited to stay today. The focus group will take about 1.5 hours. The discussion will be tape recorded and transcribed. After the transcription of the discussion, the tapes will be destroyed. The discussion will involve your feelings about recruitment into an online HIV study and toward being a part of this type of study. You will also be shown ads that would be placed on websites to recruit men into an online study. You will be asked what you like and do not like about these ads, and the types of images that you would like to see in online ads for a research study.

Risks and Discomforts

We do not expect there to be any risks or discomforts in this study. However, this is a group discussion. We cannot be certain that others in the group will not discuss what was said. The discussions will be around being in an online HIV study. You may feel uncomfortable talking about these issues. You can choose not to answer any of the questions asked. We know that these issues may be very sensitive so we will try to protect your privacy. We will not collect any information that could identify you, except for the recording of your voice. If you decide to join you will be given a study number. You will use this number when you complete the survey. No names will be used in the group discussion. You are free to decide not to answer any of the questions asked in the group discussion.

Benefits

Taking part in this study may not benefit you personally. Researchers will learn new things that will help them better design the online HIV study and improve the health of MSM.

Token of Appreciation

If you decide to join in the research you will be given a token of our appreciation. We will give you $40 for completing the screening questionnaire and for participating in the discussion.

Confidentiality

We will not collect any information that will identify you personally. No names will be used in the group discussions. We will tape record the group discussions. This allows the researches to listen to them later and to identify the main issues that were raised in the focus group. You have the right to listen to your audio-recorded interview. We will transcribe the tapes within 10 days and then we will destroy the original tapes. If a name or any identifying information enters the discussion by accident, we will not include this information in the transcription. The tapes will be stored in a locked cabinet where only the investigators to this study will have access to them. Agencies and Emory departments and committees that make rules and policy about how research is done have the right to review these records. So do companies and agencies that pay for the study which includes Manila Consulting Group, Inc. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We will keep all records that we produce private to the extent we are required to do so by law.

Voluntary Participation and Withdrawal:

Your participation is completely voluntary, and you have the right to refuse to be in this study. You can stop at any time after giving your consent. The researcher may stop you from taking part in this study at any time if he decides it is in your best interest, if you do not follow study instructions, or if their behavior becomes destructive to the group discussion.

Contact Persons

If you have any questions about this study or feel you have been harmed in this study please contact a member of the research team:

Patrick Sullivan, DVM PhD

Emory University

Rollins School of Public Health

1518 Clifton Rd.

Room 3023

Atlanta, GA 30322

If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this research study or feel you have been harmed by participation in this study you can contact the institutional review board at Emory University.

For Emory University contact:

Emory IRB

1599 Clifton Road

5th Floor East

Atlanta, GA 30322 USA

Tel: 404 712 0720

Toll free: 877 503 9797

Email:irb@emory.edu

You may keep a copy of this consent information sheet for your records if you like.

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Version: 2/10/2011