You are being
invited to participate in a study entitled ********* ***** that is being conducted by Colleen
Shepherd. Colleen Shepherd is a Graduate Student in the Department of Education
and Leadership Studies, Faculty of Education, at the University of
Victoria. You may contact her if you
have further questions by calling (250) 472-5761 or by email: colleen_shepherd@hotmail.com. As
a graduate student, I am required to conduct research as part of the
requirements for a degree in Leadership Studies. It is being conducted under
the supervision of Dr. Carol Harris. You
may contact my supervisor at 250-721-7823 or by email: harrisce@uvic.ca. This research is part of a larger study being
conducted in your community by Dr. Harris called Educational Restructuring in
Coastal Communities: Principles, Policies and Practices.
Research of this
type is important to coastal communities that have experienced a major downturn
in their resource based economies. Job losses, growing unemployment and
Provincial Government cuts to key social programs, are seriously straining
family and community resources. During these challenging times, community
schools have continued to operate breakfast and lunch programs with funding
from the BC’s Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). However,
proposed changes to the MCFD’s School Based Funding policies mean that school
meal programs may be eliminated or seriously reduced in the 2003/ 2004 school
year. In this context, it is important to examine the perceived significance of
school meal programs to students, educators and community schools. This
research will help schools to identify and articulate key issues related to
school meal programs and their proposed changes, and to plan more effectively
about how to respond to such changes.
The purpose of this
study is to explore the perceived significance of provincially funded school
meal programs in two coastal community schools. My objective is to understand
more fully what funded school meal programs mean to the daily lived experiences
of students, educators, administrators and community support workers.
You have been
selected to take part in this study for your first-hand knowledge about
provincially funded school meal programs in your community school, and for your
direct involvement with students who access those programs, and/or their
families.
If you agree to
voluntarily participate in this research, your participation will include a
personal interview and checking over your interview transcript. Most meetings
between the researcher and the participants will be on an individual basis. It
is also possible that you will be invited to participate in a focus group. Should you volunteer to join a focus group it
will involve a group discussion with three or more people. Focus groups allow you to share your ideas
and opinions with other community members. One disadvantage of the focus group
is that others hear what you say. Your
identity, therefore, is no longer anonymous (that is, others know that you have
taken part in the interview), nor your words confidential (that is others will
hear what you have to say). For that reason focus groups will be conducted in neither anonymity nor confidentiality.
Focus groups will be held at the school or at another commonly accessible
meeting place in the community.
Participation in
this study may cause some inconvenience to you, including the time involved in
conversation(s) with the researcher, and in reviewing the interview transcripts
for accuracy. The conversations will take approximately 1 hour of your time,
and the review of the transcripts another 1/2 hour. If you are involved in a
focus group it may take up to 2.5 hours; participants will be free to leave
whenever they desire. The researcher will provide healthy refreshments at all
focus group sessions.
The identity of
participants and places will be protected by code names and all conversations
will be held in strict confidence (with tapes and transcripts locked in the
researcher’s office filing cabinet). As a result, I do not anticipate that
there will be risks to the participants.
If any participant senses risk, he or she may withdraw from the study at
any time, and without negative consequences of any kind.
Participation in
this study is completely voluntary, and participants may withdraw from the
study at any time without negative consequence. If you choose to do so, and
wish your data to be withdrawn as well, the data will be destroyed. That is, the information you give will not be
used as data in my study unless you give your permission that it may be
included. In order to assure myself that you are continuing to give your
consent to participate in this research, I will ask you if you are still
willing to participate in this study. All information will be held in strict
confidentiality. Participants will meet with the researcher in a place of their
choosing. The audio-tapes of interviews
will be kept in a securely locked filing cabinet in the researcher’s home. Each
tape, once transcribed, will be erased.
The transcripts themselves – using code names for participants – will be
shredded within five years of the completion of the study.
The data will be
used to write a Masters Thesis for the Faculty of Education and Leadership
Studies at the University of Victoria. When completed, the thesis will be
housed in the University library for public viewing.
Summary findings
from this study will be reported directly to you, the participants, and in the
university setting as a formal Thesis document and in class presentations. In addition, it is possible that findings
will be disseminated at educational conferences and at scholarly meetings.
In addition to
being able to contact the researcher or her supervisor Dr. Carol Harris at the
above phone numbers, you may verify the ethical approval of this study, or
raise any concerns you might have, by contacting the Associate Vice-President,
Research at the University of Victoria (250-472-4362).
Your signature
below indicates that you understand the above conditions of participation in
this study and that you have had the opportunity to have your questions
answered by the researchers.
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Name
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Signature
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A
copy of this consent will be left with you, and a copy will be taken by the
researcher.
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