Students’ Personalities, Behaviours, and Perceptions of Crime – A Mixed Methods Study

Ethical Clearance Reference Number: PsyREC-RA-207-23/24

YOU WILL BE GIVEN A COPY OF THIS INFORMATION SHEET 

Students’ Personalities, Behaviours, and Perceptions of Crime – A Mixed Methods Study

Invitation Paragraph

I would like to invite you to participate in this research project which forms part of my postgraduate MSc research. Before you decide whether you want to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what your participation will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish. Ask me if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.

What is the purpose of the project?

The purpose of the project is to examine how socially aversive personality traits and behaviours affect perceptions of crimes of a sexual nature. The aim of the study is to understand how students' opinions may be impacted by these traits.

Why have I been invited to take part?

You are being invited to participate in this project because you are a student. You must be at least 18 years old to take part. 

What will happen if I take part?

If you choose to take part in the project you will be asked to complete an online survey that consists of mostly multiple choice questions and a few open-ended questions.You will be asked to complete a short personality survey, then read a scenario and respond to a few questions about that. The personality survey will consist of rating how much you agree with statements, such as “In video games, I like realistic blood spurts.” The open-ended text box responses will be used to strengthen the multiple choice responses about the scenarios. Participation will take place online anytime before the end of May. It will include a one-time 5 minute online questionnaire. As part of participation you will be asked to provide your age, gender, and course type (Policing, Psychology or other). You will not need to talk to anyone or provide any contact information. There will be a short personality survey to examine how certain behaviours might influence perceptions.  

Do I have to take part?

Participation is completely voluntary. You should only take part if you want to and choosing not to take part will not disadvantage you in any way. Once you have read the information sheet, please contact us if you have any questions that will help you make a decision about taking part. If you decide to take part, consent will be implied by continuing and submitting the questionnaire. 

Incentives

Psychology students partaking in the study through SONA can get credits for completing it.

What are the possible risks of taking part?

The short scenarios may be distressing to some people. If you experience any discomfort please exit out of the survey and contact one of the following:

Rape Crisis: 

telephone number: 0808 500 2222   Website: 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk 

SafeLine:

telephone number: 01926 402 498    Website: https://safeline.org.uk/

These helplines will be given again in the debrief sheet. 

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

There are no benefits to participating in this study. 

Data handling and confidentiality

Your data will be processed under the terms of UK data protection law (including the UK General Data Protection Regulation [UK GDPR] and the Data Protection Act 2018). All data collected is entirely anonymous, due to no identifying data being collected. No one will be specifically identified in the study. The data will be kept confidential between the researcher and supervisor for ten years to publish the study. Liverpool John Moores University has a responsibility to keep information collected about you safe and secure, and to ensure the integrity of research data. Specialist teams within Liverpool John Moores University continually assess and ensure that data is held in the most appropriate and secure way.

Data Protection Statement 

If you would like more information about how your data will be processed under the terms of UK data protection laws please visit the link below:

What if I change my mind about taking part?

You are free to withdraw at any point of the project, without having to give a reason. Withdrawing from the project will not affect you in any way. You are able to withdraw your data from the project up until you have submitted your responses and see the debrief sheet. After which withdrawal of your data will no longer be possible due to the data being entirely anonymous, there will be no way of knowing which response was yours. If you choose to withdraw from the project we will not retain the information you have given thus far.

What will happen to the results of the project?

The results of the project will be summarised in a MSc Forensic and Investigative Psychology dissertation. The aim is to get the paper published in the future but no specific data will be shared besides the overall findings.

Who should I contact for further information?

If you have any questions or require more information about this project, please contact me using the following contact details: 

Keagan Terry

K.E.Terry@2020.ljmu.ac.uk

What if I have further questions, or if something goes wrong?

If this project has harmed you in any way or if you wish to make a complaint about the conduct of the project you can contact Liverpool John Moores University using the details below for further advice and information: 

Minna Lyons

m.t.lyons@ljmu.ac.uk

Thank you for reading this information sheet and for considering taking part in this research. 

Consent will be implied when you press submit at the end.