The research ethics system in the United Status, regulated by the American Psychological Association and the U.S. government, requires that participants in any kind of research freely consent to participate after being informed of the purpose and characteristics of the research study. This page is the "informed consent form."

You are invited to participate in a research study designed to examine beliefs and attitudes concerning indigenous psychology in China.

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the nature of Chinese Psychologists' ideas about indigenous psychology. Some of the questions you will be asked are personal and sensitive in nature. If you are uncomfortable or offended in any way by the questions, you are free to withdraw at any stage before completing the questionnaire. This may be done by closing or exiting from your Internet browser. You are also free to refuse to answer any questions.

Confidentiality. Your responses will be treated as strictly confidential and will be accessible only by those in the research group. Your responses will remain completely anonymous and no identifying information will be collected from your answers. This means that no one will be able to identify you by name. Furthermore, no reference will be made in any oral or written reports that could connect you in any way to this study.

Risks. It is believed that there are no risks involved in participating in this survey other than a possible breach of confidentiality which is addressed in the next section.

Benefits. Benefits of participating in this study are that you may find it interesting and helpful as you explore your feelings about the issues addressed in this survey. The results of the study might also be beneficial to you and hence will made available to you upon request. Finally, from a research perspective, the results of this study will also help further inform the research community about indigenous psychology.

Confidentiality threats. As an Internet-based research study, there is a very small risk that participation in this research may compromise your privacy. A description of these risks follows. The electronic submission of your responses may, in rare instances, be intercepted by unauthorized third parties using sophisticated tools. To mitigate this, the questionnaire itself and the responses you submit will only be accessible via a secure connection. This secure connection, which is similar to what electronic retailers use for credit card transactions, can be confirmed by noting that the Web address begins with “https” instead of “http.”

When using a computer that is connected to the Internet to access Web sites, information about the Web sites you visit will be stored in your Internet browser’s history list and in its disk cache. Furthermore, this site will temporarily place information on your computer in the form of a “cookie.” As a result, it is possible that a record of your participation in this study will be recorded on your computer. This issue can be resolved by clearing the history list, disk cache, and cookies file (see your browser’s Help menu for instructions). Note, though, that your responses to the survey are only stored temporarily on your computer until you close your browser window. Thus, after you submit your responses, your computer automatically deletes the information.

Given the manner in which this study is being conducted, all of the survey responses received will be sent immediately to the survey software web site. The survey software web site then stores the responses in a database accessible only by the primary researchers. There is a remote chance that a sophisticated hacker could crack this database and connect your name to your answers. All of the stored data will be deleted from the database at the conclusion of the study, within a week or two of the study's end date.

Although responding to this survey does not involve e-mail contact, if you were to contact the researchers via e-mail for additional information about the study, there is a risk that others using your computer or sharing your e-mail account will be able to read your e-mail or the researcher's reply. As a result, you are encouraged to protect the privacy of your e-mail account. Contact your local ISP for information on how to do this.

Possible threats to confidentiality, including potential legal threats, are inherent in all research studies. For example, the court can subpoena research records but, in so doing, must protect the participant’s rights to privacy. Certain types of information can also be requested under federal and state freedom-of-information laws and search-and-seizure laws.

Voluntary. Your rights as a respondent in this survey include that you may ask any questions regarding the research, and they will be answered fully. Your participation in the study is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time. Following the completion of this study results will be available from the researchers within 3-6 months. Also, it is possible that a written report of results will be published in scholarly journals or presented in written or oral form at national or international psychology organization conferences.

More information. For more information regarding this study you may contact the primary researcher, Dr. William K. Gabrenya, Jr., at +1 321-674-8104 or via e-mail at gabrenya@fit.edu. Finally, you may contact Florida Institute of Technology’s Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects who have approved this study. This board can be contacted through its staff office at 321-674-8120.