Early Career Doctorates Project (ECD)

Attachment B.1 – Informed consent form

Early Career Doctorates Project

Participant Informed Consent

Cognitive Interview

What is the purpose of the interview? You are invited to participate voluntarily in this interview, which is being conducted by RTI International (RTI), a not-for-profit research firm, for the National Science Foundation (NSF). This interview and interviews with others like you will help inform the data collection procedures for the Early Career Doctorates Project (ECD), a proposed national survey of postdocs, tenure-track faculty and nonfaculty researchers who earned their doctorate degree within the past 10 years.

What will happen during the interview? The interview will take approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours. Each person’s interview will be slightly different, and topics may include factors that would encourage your participation in the ECD if you were selected; we may ask you to read silently to yourself sample letters which invite participation in the ECD. After you are finished reading we will ask you to tell us your general impressions of each letter and to compare the letters in terms of their likelihood of encouraging your participating in the ECD. Finally, we may ask you to use a computer to log in to the web survey and tell us as you go about how easy or difficult the process is. In addition, we will ask you a small number of basic questions about your educational and occupational background that will help us with our analysis of the results of these interviews. In addition to the interviewer, other RTI project staff may observe the interview and take notes. The interview will also involve audio taping your comments for later analysis. The audio of your interview may be shared with the NSF. In appreciation for your participation in the interview, you will receive $40.00.

Do I have to participate? Your participation in this interview is voluntary. Once you start the interview, you may stop at any time and still receive $50 in appreciation for your time. Also, you may choose not to answer any question.

Will this be kept private? Your participation will be kept confidential. Your name and other identifying information will be protected by RTI staff to the fullest extent of the law. Personally identifiable information will not be used in any report or publication. The information you give us will be combined with the responses of others in a summary report that does not identify you individually. There are no expected risks to participating in this study.

Whom do I call if I have questions? If you have any questions about the study you may telephone the project director, Peter Einaudi, at 1-919-541-8765. If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant in this study, you may contact the Office of Research Protection at RTI International at 1-866-214-2043, a toll-free number.

______________________________________________________________________________

By signing below, you are indicating that you are choosing to participate and that you have received a copy of this consent form. If there is any part of this form that is not clear to you, be sure to ask.

Signature of participant______________________________________________ Date ___/___/___

I certify that the nature and purpose of this research have been explained to the above individual.

Signature of Person Who Obtained Consent_______________________________ Date ___/___/___

Early Career Doctorates Project

Participant Informed Consent

Cognitive Interview

What is the purpose of the interview? You are invited to participate voluntarily in this interview, which is being conducted by RTI International (RTI), a not-for-profit research firm, for the National Science Foundation (NSF). This interview and interviews with others like you will help inform the data collection procedures for the Early Career Doctorates Project (ECD), a proposed national survey of postdocs, tenure-track faculty and nonfaculty researchers who earned their doctorate degree within the past 10 years.

What will happen during the interview? The interview will take approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours. Each person’s interview will be slightly different, and topics may include factors that would encourage your participation in the ECD if you were selected; we may ask you to read silently to yourself sample letters which invite participation in the ECD. After you are finished reading we will ask you to tell us your general impressions of each letter and to compare the letters in terms of their likelihood of encouraging your participating in the ECD. Finally, we may ask you to use a computer to log in to the web survey and tell us as you go about how easy or difficult the process is. In addition, we will ask you a small number of basic questions about your educational and occupational background that will help us with our analysis of the results of these interviews. In addition to the interviewer, other RTI project staff and NSF representatives may observe the interview and take notes. The interview will also involve audio taping your comments for later analysis. The audio of your interview may be shared with the NSF. In appreciation for your participation in the interview, you will receive $50.00.

Do I have to participate? Your participation in this interview is voluntary. Once you start the interview, you may stop at any time and still receive $50 in appreciation for your time. Also, you may choose not to answer any question.

Will this be kept private? Your participation will be kept confidential. Your name and other identifying information will be protected by RTI staff to the fullest extent of the law. Personally identifiable information will not be used in any report or publication. The information you give us will be combined with the responses of others in a summary report that does not identify you individually. There are no expected risks to participating in this study.

Whom do I call if I have questions? If you have any questions about the study you may telephone the project director, Peter Einaudi, at 1-919-541-8765. If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant in this study, you may contact the Office of Research Protection at RTI International at 1-866-214-2043, a toll-free number.

______________________________________________________________________________

By signing below, you are indicating that you are choosing to participate and that you have received a copy of this consent form. If there is any part of this form that is not clear to you, be sure to ask.

Signature of participant______________________________________________ Date ___/___/___

I certify that the nature and purpose of this research have been explained to the above individual.

Signature of Person Who Obtained Consent_______________________________ Date ___/___/___

NSF