CONSENT FORM
1) Title of Research Study: Sibling Aggression and Closeness
2) Investigator: Richard Michalski, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)
3) Purpose: The purpose of this study is to collect information about sibling relationships including closeness and conflict.
4) Procedures: Participants must be 18 years of age or older and have at least one sibling. Participants will be recruited through psychology courses or through the community to complete a survey online. Participants will be asked to complete the survey at home and in private. Participants will complete a survey about various aggressive behaviors that their siblings may have perpetrated on them while they were growing up. This survey will take about 30-45 minutes to complete. The survey includes personal questions. For example, participants are asked to indicate if their sibling(s) ever cut them with a knife. Participants are asked to indicate whether their sibling(s) did this to them using a scale from 0 (Never did this) to 9 (Very frequently did this). Participants completing the survey will be asked to read and accept an online consent form before beginning the survey and if participating for extra credit in a course, will be asked to print the confirmation page at the end of the survey to return to his or her instructor.
5) Risks: The risks associated with participation in this study are no more than one would experience in regular daily activities. However, participants may feel uncomfortable answering questions about conflict and aggressive behaviors perpetrated by their siblings while they were growing up. If participants feel uncomfortable answering any question on the survey, they are free to not answer that question. Participants may elect to not answer any question(s) on the survey for any reason and still receive credit for their participation, as long as the participant turns in the confirmation page to his or her instructor. This study is completely voluntary so participants may withdraw from participation at any time.
6) Benefits: Participants will have the opportunity to reflect upon and learn about their sibling relationships. Much of the information requested in the survey has never before been collected. Therefore, participants will have the satisfaction of providing an important service for psychological science and will be contributing to our understanding of sibling relationships. Participation is completely voluntary. Participants may elect to not answer any question for any reason (Please see “Risks” above). For participants recruited through classes, the instructor of that course may offer extra credit towards that class for your participation in this study. If extra credit is offered, the amount of extra credit will be at the discretion of the instructor. For students who do not meet the requirements for participation or who do not wish to participate, the investigators—in consultation with the instructor—will provide an alternate assignment that can be completed for equivalent extra credit.
7) Data Collection & Storage: All information provided will be kept confidential. No identifying information will be collected so responses provided by participants will remain confidential. Information collected is accessible only to the Principal Investigator. Results will not be released or reported in any way that might allow for identification of individual participants. Participants may have access to their data at any time and the results of the study will be available once the study is completed. All information will be kept confidential, unless otherwise required by law. Every effort will be made to keep your data confidential however, as with any online transaction, the ability of the data to be tracked to a specific computer is always possible.
8) Contact Information: For other questions about the study, you should contact the Principal Investigator, Dr. Richard Michalski, at (540) 362-6586 or through email at rmichalski@hollins.edu.