Informed Consent Agreement
Social Networking in FIRST

Purpose of the research studies: The purpose of the study is to examine your attitudes in general and to examine your experiences participating in FIRST.

What you will be required to do in these studies: You will be asked answer a number of questions about your experiences in FIRST, the people the you interact with at FIRST and outside of FIRST, how you get along with others and tactics that you use during your interaction with others at FIRST and outside of FIRST, how you view school and schoolwork, questions about your personality and self-esteem, and about the resources that you use when participating in FIRST. You will be asked to participate at the beginning and end of participating in the FIRST competition season.

Time required: You will spend approximately 30 minutes in this study. You will be asked to participate twice — at the beginning of the FIRST competitions and at the end.

Risks to Participants: There are no physical or psychological risks beyond those in everyday life. You will be fully debriefed at the end of the experiment.

Benefits to Participating: There are no direct benefits to you for participating in this research study. The study may help us understand the experiences people have by participating in FIRST.

Confidentiality: The information that you give will be handled confidentially. Your information will be assigned a code. The list connecting your name to this code will be kept in a locked file. When the study is completed and the data have been analyzed, this list will be destroyed. Your name will not be used in any report.

Voluntary participation: Your participation in this study is completely voluntary.

How to withdraw from the study: If you want to withdraw from the study, please quietly tell the researcher, or exit the web browser. There is no penalty for withdrawing. If you would like to withdraw after your materials have been submitted, please contact Dr. Skorinko: skorinko

Payment: If the experimenter is offering a raffle prize for participating, you will be automatically entered into the raffle.

Who to contact if you have questions about the study:
Dr. Jeanine Skorinko, Department of Social Science, WPI, 100 Institute Rd, Worcester, MA 01609
Telephone: (508) 831-5451
Email: skorinko

Who to contact about your rights in the study: Chair of the WPI Institutional Review Board (Prof. Kent Rissmiller, Tel. 508-831-5019, Email: kjr) or WPI's University Compliance Officer (Michael J. Curley, Tel. 508-831-6919).