[ATTW-L] Reminder: Invitation to Complete a Survey about Creating a Databank/Repository for TPC Scholarship

Tue Mar 14 18:13:11 UTC 2023

Dear Colleagues—

**Just a reminder to please complete our survey if you have not already done so and you conduct empirical research in the field.
I’m happy to answer questions or provide more info—just send me an e-mail: caw0103 at auburn.edu<mailto:caw0103 at auburn.edu> Thanks!

We (Kristin Bivens, Dan Richards, and myself) invite you to participate in a research study entitled “DART (DAtabank ReposiTory) for Scholars in Technical and Professional Communication.” This study seeks to learn about the practices of conducting empirical research that scholars in our field engage in, if they have previously contributed to or used a databank/repository to house the data they collect, and to assess their level of interest in using and/or contributing to such a resource designed specifically for scholars in our field in the future.

The remainder of this e-mail provides consent information about this research project. If you are willing to participate, please click on the following link: https://auburn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d0d1SP1SukNOyBE<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fauburn.qualtrics.com%2Fjfe%2Fform%2FSV_d0d1SP1SukNOyBE&data=05%7C01%7Ccaw0103%40auburn.edu%7C1200ae2e3bde4c5bd81008dac03a47ac%7Cccb6deedbd294b388979d72780f62d3b%7C1%7C0%7C638033653811964459%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=L%2Byj5wjlpcICFhKcTjcUAdWmS6vN6Yw2e9ZDAWEGsDM%3D&reserved=0>

At the end of the survey, you will also be invited to provide contact information if you are interested in being interviewed about your responses to the survey. If you provide this information, I will contact you via e-mail and send you a consent form for that portion of the study.

Best Regards,
--
Candice A. Welhausen, PhD
Associate Professor of Technical Communication
Department of English
Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849

Information Letter for a Research Study entitled “DART (DAtabank ReposiTory) for Scholars in Technical and Professional Communication”

You are invited to participate in a research study to learn about the practices of conducting empirical research that scholars in technical and professional communication (TPC) engage in, the extent to which they may have used and/or contributed their empirical research to databanks or repositories, and their level of interest in using and contributing to a databank or repository developed for scholars working in TPC in the future. The study is being conducted by Candice A. Welhausen, Associate Professor, in the Auburn University Department of English. Research team members include Kristin Marie Bivens, PhD (Scientific Editor, University of Bern, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine) and Daniel Richards, PhD (Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Department of English, Old Dominion University). You were selected as a possible participant because you are a researcher in this field and are age 19 or older.

What will be involved if you participate? Your participation is completely voluntary. If you decide to participate in this research study, you will be asked to complete an 8-question survey housed in Qualtrics and to provide feedback to the PI either via e-mail or in a Zoom interview. The survey will take less than 5 minutes to complete. The survey asks about the kinds of empirical data collection methods that you use, whether you have contributed to or used a databank for your research and teaching, and your level of interest in contributing to or using data created by researchers working in TPC in the future. The survey can be found here: https://auburn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d0d1SP1SukNOyBE<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fauburn.qualtrics.com%2Fjfe%2Fform%2FSV_d0d1SP1SukNOyBE&data=05%7C01%7Ccaw0103%40auburn.edu%7C1200ae2e3bde4c5bd81008dac03a47ac%7Cccb6deedbd294b388979d72780f62d3b%7C1%7C0%7C638033653811964459%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=L%2Byj5wjlpcICFhKcTjcUAdWmS6vN6Yw2e9ZDAWEGsDM%3D&reserved=0>

At the end of the survey, you will be invited to provide your contact information if you are interested in participating in a follow-up interview conducted via Zoom. The purpose of the interview is to ask additional questions about your responses to the survey. You may choose to respond to the survey and not provide any identifying information. If you respond to the survey anonymously, no information will be collected that could be used to identify you. If you provide contact information, you will be contacted by the PI (Dr. Candice A. Welhausen) via e-mail and asked to sign a consent form to participate in the interview.

Are there any risks or discomforts? The risks associated with participating in this study are breach of confidentiality for participants who provide contact information. If confidentially were to be breached, you might be associated with comments you made about your data collection practices and your opinions about contributing to and using a databank/repository for your research and your teaching. To minimize these risks, only the PI and the research team, which includes Dr. Bivens and Richards and a research assistant will have access to the survey results in Qualtrics. Access to the survey results will be password protected.

According to the Qualtrics’ website, their security features are as follows:
“Qualtrics servers are protected by high-end firewall systems and scans are performed regularly to ensure that any vulnerabilities are quickly found and patched. Application penetration tests are performed annually by an independent third-party. Access to systems is restricted to specific individuals who have a need-to-know such information and who are bound by confidentiality obligations. Access is monitored and audited for compliance. Qualtrics uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption (also known as HTTPS) for all transmitted data.”

Are there any benefits to yourself or others? There are no direct benefits to participants in this study.

Will you receive compensation for participating? No.

Are there any costs? If you decide to participate, you will not have to pay for anything.

If you change your mind about participating, you can decide to not complete the survey. Your participation is completely voluntary. You may also complete the survey and not provide contact information. Your decision about whether or not to participate or to stop participating will not jeopardize your future relations with Auburn University and the Department of English. You may also choose to skip questions, or you can stop filling out the survey at any point and withdraw your participation before submitting your responses.

If you do not provide contact information, any data obtained in connection with this study will remain anonymous. If you provide contact information, any data obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential. Information obtained through your participation may be published in professional journals and/or presented at a professional meeting and/or may be used in other projects, presentations, and publications related to this study including a pedagogical component/arm of the study that will be added later. This arm of the study will investigate how a databank might be used in a methodology class in TPC. If you provide contact information at the end of the survey, the PI may also contact you to ask if you are interested in future studies related to this project such as testing a pilot databank in a methodology class. However, no identifying information about you will be released at any time. If you provide contact information at the end of this survey, and you do not respond to an invitation to conduct an interview and/or to participate in future studies related to this project, you will not be contacted again about this project.

If you have questions about this study, contact Candice A. Welhausen at (505) 980 0992 or caw0103 at auburn.edu<mailto:caw0103 at auburn.edu>.

If you have questions about your rights as a research participant, you may contact the Auburn University Office of Research Compliance or the Institutional Review Board by phone (334)-844-5966 or e-mail at IRBadmin at auburn.edu<mailto:IRBadmin at auburn.edu> or IRBChair at auburn.edu<mailto:IRBChair at auburn.edu>.

HAVING READ THE INFORMATION PROVIDED, YOU MUST DECIDE IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS RESEARCH PROJECT.  IF YOU DECIDE TO PARTICIPATE, THE DATA YOU PROVIDE WILL SERVE AS YOUR AGREEMENT TO DO SO.   THIS LETTER IS YOURS TO KEEP.

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