Study Title: Do University of Southampton students believe that Black people are unfairly targeted by the media when reporting crimes?
Researcher: Ting-Ting Wong
ERGO number: 53987
You are being invited to take part in the above research study. To help you decide whether you would like to take part or not, it is important that you understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please read the information below carefully and if you have any enquires regarding the research, please feel free to email me which you will find towards the end of this PIS in the ‘Where can I get more information’ section. You may like to discuss it with others but it is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. If you are happy to participate you will be asked to sign a consent form. You must be a student at the University of Southampton in order to take part and you must be aged 18 or above and not be under the responsibility or care of others (parents/ carers, teachers or medical staff).
What is the research about?
I am a third year Criminology and Psychology student studying as at an undergraduate level conducting research to work towards my academic qualification. I am conducting this study to see whether university students (specifically Southampton) believe that there is racial bias within the media or not. The questions will involve race, the criminal justice system and the media. I shall be asking questions such as “Do you believe that ethnic minorities are unfairly targeted by the media?” “Do Black people come across as more aggressive on media?” “Do you think how Black people are portrayed in the media effects Black people in everyday lives?”. Asking these questions will help better the understanding of whether people think media portrayals are racially biased and whether there is a significant difference in opinion depending on ethnic background.
Why have I been asked to participate?
You have been asked to participate in the study because you are a student at the University of Southampton. The number of participants participating in this study cannot be predicted as it depends on the number of people who click on the link.
What will happen to me if I take part?
You will need to take a survey, which would consist of questions to do with ethnic minorities (specifically Black people) and their portrayal in the media. This survey should take no longer than 10/15 minutes, depending on your answer and how much you would like to write. After taking the survey, there will be no follow up and you will not be contacted again. When writing answers, it is expected to be taken seriously in order for the data to be significant. There will be no harmful questions asked in the survey. Your mental state before you take part in the study shall be the same after you complete the study. Nonetheless, just in case, student support services contact details shall be given. Survey methodology shall be used to retrieve the data and thematic analysis shall be used to analyse the data.
Are there any benefits in my taking part?
There may not be a direct benefit to the participant, however your input will heavily benefit the study as it will give insight and better the understanding of this area and bring more awareness to this topic.
Are there any risks involved?
Confidentiality should not be an issue as the participants shall be kept anonymous. There is a small chance, due to race being a sensitive topic for some, that there may by minor psychological discomfort experienced. If that is the case, the student support services contact details shall be given at the end of the survey in which they can contact any time.
What data will be collected?
All of the questionnaire responses will be anonymous and stored in password protected, encrypted file on the University of Southampton’s secure server. The survey will contain questions to which you can decide whether to give a short or long answer. The only personal information that shall be collected is your ethnicity and gender. Once you have submitted your answers, you cannot retrieve your data back. Once it has been submitted, I will be sent an email letting me know that someone has completed my survey. There will be no third parties involved. The data collected will not be on your personal experiences/ behaviour and specific events, but on opinions only.
Will my participation be confidential?
Your participation and the information we collect about you during the course of the research will be kept strictly confidential.
Only members of the research team and responsible members of the University of Southampton may be given access to data about you for monitoring purposes and/or to carry out an audit of the study to ensure that the research is complying with applicable regulations. Individuals from regulatory authorities (people who check that we are carrying out the study correctly) may require access to your data. All of these people have a duty to keep your information, as a research participant, strictly confidential.
Electronic data and consent forms shall be kept on the University of Southampton’s secure server. After conferment of the degree, the data shall be deleted on the laptop.
Do I have to take part?
No, it is entirely up to you to decide whether or not to take part. Before the survey begins, there will be a participation information sheet. At the bottom, there will be a checkbox stating that once you tick/ check the checkbox, that is you consenting to the study. You will not be able to proceed with the study unless you consent.
What happens if I change my mind?
Before the survey, the participation information will be given and at the bottom there will be a consent box. If you change your mind halfway through the study, you can just close the tab and your data will not be saved or collected. However, once you have submitted your answers and finished the survey, you cannot withdraw your data from the study.
What will happen to the results of the research?
The results will be written up and printed. However not publicly, as only those involved with marking dissertations will be viewing it. Personal details will not be collected; therefore, your answers will remain anonymous. You will also not be given the copy of the data.
Where can I get more information?
If you have any questions or enquiries, you will able to contact me directly at: stw1g17@soton.ac.uk
What happens if there is a problem?
If you have a concern about any aspect of this study, you should speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer your questions.
If you remain unhappy or have a complaint about any aspect of this study, please contact the University of Southampton Research Integrity and Governance Manager (023 8059 5058, rgoinfo@soton.ac.uk).
In addition, you can contact the researcher directly (stw1g17@soton.ac.uk)
If you find that you need counselling because this is a sensitive topic, please contact Enabling Services on enable@soton.ac.uk.
Data Protection Privacy Notice
The University of Southampton conducts research to the highest standards of research integrity. As a publicly-funded organisation, the University has to ensure that it is in the public interest when we use personally-identifiable information about people who have agreed to take part in research. This means that when you agree to take part in a research study, we will use information about you in the ways needed, and for the purposes specified, to conduct and complete the research project. Under data protection law, ‘Personal data’ means any information that relates to and is capable of identifying a living individual. The University’s data protection policy governing the use of personal data by the University can be found on its website (https://www.southampton.ac.uk/legalservices/what-we-do/data-protection-and-foi.page).
This Participant Information Sheet tells you what data will be collected for this project and whether this includes any personal data. Please ask the research team if you have any questions or are unclear what data is being collected about you.
Our privacy notice for research participants provides more information on how the University of Southampton collects and uses your personal data when you take part in one of our research projects and can be found at http://www.southampton.ac.uk/assets/sharepoint/intranet/ls/Public/Research%20and%20Integrity%20Privacy%20Notice/Privacy%20Notice%20for%20Research%20Participants.pdf
Any personal data we collect in this study will be used only for the purposes of carrying out our research and will be handled according to the University’s policies in line with data protection law. If any personal data is used from which you can be identified directly, it will not be disclosed to anyone else without your consent unless the University of Southampton is required by law to disclose it.
Data protection law requires us to have a valid legal reason (‘lawful basis’) to process and use your Personal data. The lawful basis for processing personal information in this research study is for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. Personal data collected for research will not be used for any other purpose.
For the purposes of data protection law, the University of Southampton is the ‘Data Controller’ for this study, which means that we are responsible for looking after your information and using it properly. All data will be deleted upon successful completion of the degree.
To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personal data necessary to achieve our research study objectives. Your data protection rights – such as to access, change, or transfer such information - may be limited, however, in order for the research output to be reliable and accurate. The University will not do anything with your personal data that you would not reasonably expect.
If you have any questions about how your personal data is used, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please consult the University’s data protection webpage (https://www.southampton.ac.uk/legalservices/what-we-do/data-protection-and-foi.page) where you can make a request using our online form. If you need further assistance, please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer (data.protection@soton.ac.uk).
The data shall be cleared once the dissertation has been submitted, the data shall be deleted.
All data shall be anonymised, meaning when all personal data is deleted and is no longer accessible, the research data cannot be traced back to the individual.
Thank you for taking your time in participating in this study. Your participation has been greatly valued.
