Information Statement for the Research Project- Phase I:
A New Approach to Anxiety Management
(Version 2; 20/05/2020)
Dear student
You are invited to participate in a PhD research study about a new approach to anxiety management. We have asked your university to distribute this invitation on our behalf and have not shared any private information without your permission. Participants can enter a prize draw to win an IPAD with 32 GB of memory, 9.7" retina display, 10 hours of battery life, wireless and Bluetooth connectivity or similar.
Please read the following information statement, then if you wish to participate, simply click the link to the online survey.
Why is the research being done?
The purpose of this research is to better understand university students’ beliefs and coping strategies from a higher and broader perspective (Epistemic Metacognition) and to explore the possible influencing drivers and its impacts on anxiety management. This research aims to develop a theoretical model of anxiety management, improve the efficacy of anxiety management, and support students to develop an effective way to the successful completion of their studies.
Who can participate in the research?
We are inviting all students who are currently enrolled in one of 9 Melbourne’s universities to participate in an online survey in phase I of this research project. Your university was chosen because it has a large number of both domestic and international students in the Melbourne Metropolitan Area.
What choice do you have?
Participation in this research study is entirely voluntary. Whether or not you decide to participate, your decision will not disadvantage you in any way. Only people who give their informed consent will be included in the project. If you give informed consent to participate, you may still withdraw from the study at any time without needing to provide a reason for your decision. All the questionnaires are anonymous, so your data will not be identifiable. You can also express your interest to participate in Phase II of the research, at the end of the online survey. Interested and eligible participants will then receive an invitation via email, to participate.
What would you be asked to do?
You are invited to complete the online survey which consists of a set of questionnaires. You will be asked for some demographic details (such as your age and gender), general academic details (such as your attendance status) and dispositions (e.g. coping strategies). The questionnaires focus on aspects such as how you approach tasks regarding your studies and life in general, what your thoughts and feelings are concerning, and what your copings are using.
At the end of the online Survey, you will be given a detailed source of counselling and support services. Some participants will be invited to participate in Phase 2 of the research. Those interested will receive an invitation email from the research team within 2 working days. You can consider to participate in Phase II of the research within 12 months after receiving the invitation. Because numbers are limited, only some of you will receive a detailed information statement with a link to collect your consent concerning participation in Phase II of the research project. Those not participating in Phase II, will receive a letter of thanks from us.
How much time will it take?
The online survey in Research Phase I takes approximately 35-40 minutes to complete. The survey is completed entirely online in one session.
What are the risks and benefits of participating?
Some people find it beneficial to think about how they reacted to distressing issues. Of course, there is a possibility that you might feel uncomfortable in your responses to the questions in the online survey. If this should occur, you are free to withdraw from the study at any time. In the unlikely event that completing the online survey causes you distress, we would encourage you to make immediate contact with your counsellors in your university counselling centre.
Your participation would help us better understand the potential influencing factors in managing anxiety. It would help us develop a new and more effective approach to anxiey management.
At the end of the survey, you can enter a prize draw to win an IPAD with 9.7” retina display and 10-hour battery life, 32GB memory, wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. An email address will be collected for prize draw purposes. With your permission, we will also send you more details about Phase II of our research project.
How will your privacy be protected?
If you choose to participate in this study, your privacy will be protected in a number of ways:
If you have any concerns or questions concerning the privacy and security policies of Survey Monkey, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/ for more details.
If you have any concerns or questions about the OwnCloud, please visit https://www.newcastle.edu.au/current-staff/working-here/it-and-computing/information-management/owncloud for more details.
How will the information collected be used?
At the conclusion of the study, a summary of the results and associated reports will be available on the website www.selfappraisalresearch.org. The results will also be reported in a thesis to be submitted for Mr Guan Wang’s doctoral degree, and as appropriate, in papers for presentation at conferences or publication in scientific journals.
What do you need to do to participate?
Please read this Information Statement and be sure you understand its contents before you consent to participate. If you have any questions, please contact the researchers listed below. Your completion of the survey will be taken as implied consent to participate.
Please click here to start the online survey.
Further information
If you have any questions concerning the research, please contact the student researcher, Mr Guan Wang. He is responsible for administrating the research project recruitment and connections with other parties.
PhD Candidate Guan Wang, Co-investigator
gwang1@newcastle.edu.au
0450796746
Dr Jill Scevak, Chief Investigator
jill.scevak@newcastle.edu.au
02 4921 6734
Dr Robert Cantwell, Co-investigator
robert.cantwell@newcastle.edu.au
02 4921 6735
Thank you for considering this invitation.
Dr Jill Scevak (On behalf of the research team)
Complaints about this research
This project has been approved by the University’s Human Research Ethics Committee, Approval No. H-2019-0313.Should you have concerns about your rights as a participant in this research, or you have a complaint about the manner in which the research is conducted, it may be given to the researcher, or, if an independent person is preferred, to the Human Research Ethics Officer, Research Office, The Chancellery, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia, (02) 49216333, Human-Ethics@newcastle.edu.au.
You are invited to participate in a PhD research study about a new approach to anxiety management. We have asked your university to distribute this invitation on our behalf and have not shared any private information without your permission. Participants can enter a prize draw to win an IPAD with 32 GB of memory, 9.7" retina display, 10 hours of battery life, wireless and Bluetooth connectivity or similar.
Please read the following information statement, then if you wish to participate, simply click the link to the online survey.
Why is the research being done?
The purpose of this research is to better understand university students’ beliefs and coping strategies from a higher and broader perspective (Epistemic Metacognition) and to explore the possible influencing drivers and its impacts on anxiety management. This research aims to develop a theoretical model of anxiety management, improve the efficacy of anxiety management, and support students to develop an effective way to the successful completion of their studies.
Who can participate in the research?
We are inviting all students who are currently enrolled in one of 9 Melbourne’s universities to participate in an online survey in phase I of this research project. Your university was chosen because it has a large number of both domestic and international students in the Melbourne Metropolitan Area.
What choice do you have?
Participation in this research study is entirely voluntary. Whether or not you decide to participate, your decision will not disadvantage you in any way. Only people who give their informed consent will be included in the project. If you give informed consent to participate, you may still withdraw from the study at any time without needing to provide a reason for your decision. All the questionnaires are anonymous, so your data will not be identifiable. You can also express your interest to participate in Phase II of the research, at the end of the online survey. Interested and eligible participants will then receive an invitation via email, to participate.
What would you be asked to do?
You are invited to complete the online survey which consists of a set of questionnaires. You will be asked for some demographic details (such as your age and gender), general academic details (such as your attendance status) and dispositions (e.g. coping strategies). The questionnaires focus on aspects such as how you approach tasks regarding your studies and life in general, what your thoughts and feelings are concerning, and what your copings are using.
At the end of the online Survey, you will be given a detailed source of counselling and support services. Some participants will be invited to participate in Phase 2 of the research. Those interested will receive an invitation email from the research team within 2 working days. You can consider to participate in Phase II of the research within 12 months after receiving the invitation. Because numbers are limited, only some of you will receive a detailed information statement with a link to collect your consent concerning participation in Phase II of the research project. Those not participating in Phase II, will receive a letter of thanks from us.
How much time will it take?
The online survey in Research Phase I takes approximately 35-40 minutes to complete. The survey is completed entirely online in one session.
What are the risks and benefits of participating?
Some people find it beneficial to think about how they reacted to distressing issues. Of course, there is a possibility that you might feel uncomfortable in your responses to the questions in the online survey. If this should occur, you are free to withdraw from the study at any time. In the unlikely event that completing the online survey causes you distress, we would encourage you to make immediate contact with your counsellors in your university counselling centre.
Your participation would help us better understand the potential influencing factors in managing anxiety. It would help us develop a new and more effective approach to anxiey management.
At the end of the survey, you can enter a prize draw to win an IPAD with 9.7” retina display and 10-hour battery life, 32GB memory, wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. An email address will be collected for prize draw purposes. With your permission, we will also send you more details about Phase II of our research project.
How will your privacy be protected?
If you choose to participate in this study, your privacy will be protected in a number of ways:
- Access to the project survey website is via a professional and secure platform, so any information you enter will be protected and encrypted by advanced and updated technology of Survey Monkey.
- “Anonymous response” is set in Survey Monkey. This means that Survey Monkey will not collect any identifiable data, including the IP address.
- To ensure your privacy, all the information downloaded from the survey website will be retained securely at the Owncloud for research team access only in accordance with the University’s Research Data and Materials Management Guideline
- Your email address provided will remain strictly confidential at the Owncloud of the research team and will not be passed on to any third party.
- It will not be possible to identify individual participants or universities in any reports arising from the project.
- De-identified data will be retained electronically in a secure, password-protected format for a minimum of 5 years in the Owncloud of the research team
- The data saved on the survey website will be immediately deleted.
If you have any concerns or questions concerning the privacy and security policies of Survey Monkey, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/ for more details.
If you have any concerns or questions about the OwnCloud, please visit https://www.newcastle.edu.au/current-staff/working-here/it-and-computing/information-management/owncloud for more details.
How will the information collected be used?
At the conclusion of the study, a summary of the results and associated reports will be available on the website www.selfappraisalresearch.org. The results will also be reported in a thesis to be submitted for Mr Guan Wang’s doctoral degree, and as appropriate, in papers for presentation at conferences or publication in scientific journals.
What do you need to do to participate?
Please read this Information Statement and be sure you understand its contents before you consent to participate. If you have any questions, please contact the researchers listed below. Your completion of the survey will be taken as implied consent to participate.
Please click here to start the online survey.
Further information
If you have any questions concerning the research, please contact the student researcher, Mr Guan Wang. He is responsible for administrating the research project recruitment and connections with other parties.
PhD Candidate Guan Wang, Co-investigator
gwang1@newcastle.edu.au
0450796746
Dr Jill Scevak, Chief Investigator
jill.scevak@newcastle.edu.au
02 4921 6734
Dr Robert Cantwell, Co-investigator
robert.cantwell@newcastle.edu.au
02 4921 6735
Thank you for considering this invitation.
Dr Jill Scevak (On behalf of the research team)
Complaints about this research
This project has been approved by the University’s Human Research Ethics Committee, Approval No. H-2019-0313.Should you have concerns about your rights as a participant in this research, or you have a complaint about the manner in which the research is conducted, it may be given to the researcher, or, if an independent person is preferred, to the Human Research Ethics Officer, Research Office, The Chancellery, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia, (02) 49216333, Human-Ethics@newcastle.edu.au.