Gary Morrison
60 Split Rock Rd.
Saranac Lake, NY 12983

Consent Form 2: Qualitative Interviewee Version

RESEARCH DESCRIPTION

 

The following text serves as an informed consent form between you, the qualitative interviewee and the researcher.

Principal Investigator/Researcher: Gary Morrison

Title of the Research Study:

INTERACTION BETWEEN CULTURES: THE RECOVERY PROCESS AMONGST UNDERGRADUATES PARTICPATING IN ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS AND/OR NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS

 

• I have read the Research Description as listed below and as posted on the web-site "12StepCollege.org". I have had the opportunity to ask the researcher questions about the purposes and procedures of this study either by posting questions to an electronic bulletin-board maintained on the web-site "12StepCollege.org", and/or by calling the researcher anonymously at 518-891-7670.
  
   
• My participation in the research project is voluntary. I may refuse to take part in this interview, or may withdraw from it at any time without any jeopardy to my employment, college enrollment status, or other entitlements.
  
   
• The researcher may withdraw me from the research at his discretion.
   
• The researcher will provide to me, via the web-site "12-Step College.org", any significant new information that becomes available during the course of this study and which could effect my willingness to participate.
  
   
• My identity will remain anonymous to the researcher. Any information derived from the research project that inadvertently personally identifies me will not be released or disclosed without my specific consent.
  
   
• Besides posting any questions or concerns to the bulletin-board attached to the web-site "12-Step College.org", I can also anonymously call the researcher, who will answer any questions I may have regarding the research or my participation. The investigator's phone number is 518.891.7670 (h) or 518.327.6231 (w). The investigator's e-mail is morrisg@paulsmiths.edu.
  
   
• If at any time I have comments, or concerns regarding the conduct of the research or questions about my rights as a research subject, I should contact the Teachers College, Columbia University Institutional Review Board /IRB. The phone number for the IRB is (212) 678-4105. I can also write to the IRB at Teachers College, Columbia University, Box 151, 525 W. 120th Street, New York, NY, 10027.
  
   
• I understand that this research project is under the direct supervision of Dr. Arthur Langer, Teachers College Columbia University, Department of Organizational Leadership, 206 Main Hall, 525 W. 120th St., New York, NY 10027, 212.678.3750, al261@columbia.edu. I understand that I may contact him at any time with any questions or concerns.
  
   
• I understand that my identity will remain anonymous to both the researcher and/or any other person associated with this research project, beyond non-personally identifiable descriptive information such as age, gender, college major, and academic class standing. I understand that I will not be contacted by the researcher and/or any other person associated with this research project, upon completion of the telephone interview process, unless I choose to contact the researcher.
  
   
• I understand that I will receive compensation of for completion of the telephone interview, in the form of a gift certificate to: "Lands End, JC Penney's or Amazon.com", that will be mailed to an address that I provide to the researcher , without disclosing my name. The mailing address I provide to the researcher will not be my home or campus address, or otherwise personally identify me to the researcher.
  
   
• I understand that a synopsis of the findings of this research project will be posted on the website "12Stepcollege.org" approximately 12 to 15 months upon completion of the on-line survey, and that I will be welcome to read and/or download the synopsis at that time.
  
   
• My completion and submission of this web-based consent form means that I have read and understand the above information, and that I agree to participate in this research project.

 

Investigator's Verification of Explanation

 

I certify that I have carefully explained the purpose and nature of this research to the telephone interview respondent in age-appropriate language, through posting of the above document on the web-site ""12Stepcollege.org", in "PDF" format. By provision of my e-mail address, and the opportunity to submit this consent form via the Web to the "12 Step College.org" web-site, as well as my telephone numbers, I have provided opportunity for the respondent to discuss the research project with me in detail. I have answered all his/her questions (if any) and he/she provided the affirmative agreement (i.e. assent) to participate in this research.

Investigator's Signature: ___________________________ Date: ______________________

 

RESEARCH DESCRIPTION


 

1. DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH: You are invited to complete a telephone interview with the researcher that will further explore your responses to the on-line survey you recently completed regarding the experiences, values and behaviors of "12 Step College students". The term "12 Step College students" defines persons like yourself, who are enrolled in college on a full-time basis, are undergraduates (freshman through senior rank), are between 18 and 24 years of age, and are regularly attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and/or Narcotics Anonymous (NA), during the time you complete the survey. The term "12 Step College students" is a term created by the researcher to describe persons like yourself. The telephone interview will explore your responses to survey questions such as time management ("do you ever have to choose between attending an AA meeting and completing a class assignment?"), authority ("if your AA sponsor suggested you drop one course this term in order to attend more AA meetings, and your academic advisor disagreed, which choice would you make? Why?") and anonymity("Have you disclosed your AA or NA participation to your dormmates? If so, what sort of consequences to your disclosure?".
   
    
2. This survey is a part of a research project being conducted by researcher Gary Morrison, as a doctoral dissertation project at Teachers College of Columbia University. The information collected as a result of this survey will be used only as part of the dissertation project, and possible academic journal articles. This project is not funded by or affiliated with any other institution or agency. In particular, this project is not endorsed by either Alcoholics Anonymous and/or Narcotics Anonymous. This project is not an evaluation of the effectiveness or beliefs of either Alcoholics Anonymous and/or Narcotics.

The data collection for this research project is conducted in three stages, as follows:

 

The data collection for this research project is conducted in three stages, as follows:

The First Stage- "Behind the Scenes"-Before the Internet survey posted to this web-site was created, the researcher interviewed a number of with "subject-experts" in the fields of student-affairs and/or substance-abuse treatment. Through these interviews, the researcher was guided in the construction of the attached survey. It was then "pilot-tested" with a group of substance-abuse counseling students at a community-college program in northern NY State.

The Present Stage-"Where You Come In"- After posting the on-line survey to a web-site maintained by the researcher, "12StepCollege.org", it was linked to a number of substance-abuse recovery-oriented web-sites, with the permission of the webmaster of each site. That is how you have come to this site. The researcher will be collecting responses from people like yourself for the next two months (n.b.-a date will be inserted here, when I am that this point in the process.) When you complete the survey and "click the send button", the results will go to a secured web-site maintained by the research data-base administrator. Your e-mail address is not included in the survey response, and no identifiable information is shared with the researcher, unless you choose to participate in the final stage of the research data-collection process, as listed below.

The Final Stage- (Optional) After completing the survey, you have chosen to participate in a "follow-up" phone interview with the researcher, to further explore your experiences, values and behaviors. Up to five individuals will be selected. Both the researcher and members of the "subject-experts" group will conduct the selection-process of interview candidates, (as listed above in the "First Stage" section).

Having chosen to participate in this final stage, you are asked to provide a phone number, and "contact" given name only-just as you would in an AA or NA meeting: "Hi, I'm Susan, an alcoholic." You are encouraged to use a "nickname" or alias given name, if you choose to participate in this final stage of data collection. There will be no attempt made by the researcher, or anyone else associated with this project, to identify the source of the phone number provided.

These interviews will be conducted by telephone, at the researcher's expense. Each interview will be approximately one hour, and will be tape-recorded. The purpose of these interviews is increase understanding of the experiences, values and behaviors you will have listed, during your Internet survey response.

RISKS AND BENEFITS: The risks and benefits associated with this study are as follows: (Survey Respondents)

Risks: This research has the same or less than the amount of risk that would be encountered in any telephone opinion-survey process. For telephone interview particpants, there are no direct personal benefits, although it does provide opportunity to "share one's experience, strength and hope", in "12-Step parlance", with other recovering alcoholic and/or substance-abusing undergraduates.

You have the option of not participating in all or any of the activities of the study, without penalty. If you choose to not participate in any or all activities of the study, there are no alternate activities offered.

TIME INVOLVEMENT: Completing the telephone interview is expected to take about sixty minutes total.

OTHER POSSIBLE USE OF RESEARCH FINDINGS: The results of the study will be used as the research findings of a doctoral dissertation by the researcher, written at Teachers College, Columbia University. It is possible that they may be submitted to academic journals, upon degree completion. No personally-identifiable information of survey respondents would be included in either the dissertation itself, nor in any journal articles.

Your identity will remain completely anonymous to the researcher, although non-personally identifiable descriptive data will be gathered through the survey. The research data-collection will be conducted solely by the researcher. Database records will be stored on a server of Paul Smith's College, Rt. 86 & Rt. 30, Paul Smiths, NY, 12970, on a database site secured by firewalls, etc., so that access to data is limited to the researcher only. The research project will be conducted at the researcher's home address (Box 170-B, R.R.1., Saranac Lake, NY 12983), and all data will be stored there in locked, secure file cabinets.