Editing Ecology of Online Communities/Community rules study (section)

== Study Information Sheet ==

'''Understanding rules and norms in online communities'''

You are invited to participate in a research study seeking to understand the reasons and processes by which online communities on different platforms adopt rules. Specifically, we seek to understand why communities often (but not always) post similar rules, how such rules shape the practices and experiences of online community leaders and participants, and how these processes are similar or different across several different platforms.  

'''Eligibility to Participate'''

Participants must be adults (i.e., at least 18 years old if they are from the United States and/or above the age of majority in their locale if they are not), be able to conduct an interview in English, be familiar with online communities on at least one of the platforms we are studying, and be willing to participate in a 45-90 minute interview recorded over audio or video communication.

'''Procedures for the Study'''

If you agree to be in the study, you will first complete a short questionnaire asking about your familiarity and engagement with online communities. You will then participate in an interview conducted remotely by voice or video either using Zoom or a platform of your choice.  This interview will include questions about your experience with [Reddit, Mastodon, Fandom, Open Source] communities.

You will be asked about your knowledge of these communities including about their topics, content, written and unwritten rules, the kinds of people who are active in them and about how they relate to one another.  We expect that most interviews will last between 45 and 90 minutes. These interviews will be recorded and then transcribed so that our research team can have a record of what you have said. We will delete the recordings themselves once the interviews are fully transcribed. We will edit out any identifiers from these transcripts so that all retained records are anonymous.

'''Voluntary Participation and Withdrawal'''

Taking part in this study is voluntary. You may choose not to take part or may leave the study at any time. For example, you may decline to complete the survey, cancel the interview before it begins or choose to end the interview at any point.  Leaving the study will not result in any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are entitled. Your decision of whether or not to participate in the study will not affect your current or future relations with Northwestern University.

'''Payment for Participation'''

You may be compensated with a $20 Amazon gift card.  Amazon gift cards can only be used in the country where they were purchased and they can only be purchased on amazon.com’s USA website or one of Amazon’s international sites (Australia, Brazil, Canada, People’s Republic of China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom).   If you want to receive the gift card, we must collect your name, email address, and the country where you intend to use the gift card, in order to comply with financial requirements via this Google Form [link to form].    

'''Confidentiality'''

We will endeavor to keep your personal information confidential. However, we cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality. Your personal information may be disclosed if required by law. Your identifying information including your email address, our records of which communities we asked you about, and audio/video recording of our conversion will be held in confidence until the reports resulting from the study are published, after which they will be deleted.  Your username will be deleted after we successfully connect using email. The identities of communities you participate in will be removed from the transcripts.

Our university requires that if you opt to receive any payment gift card, we will need to collect your name and email address and retain this information for a period of 5-6 years. We will store this information in an encrypted file separate from the rest of the information we collect and will not share this information except in the case of a financial audit. If you do not wish to receive compensation, we will not collect your name or maintain any identifiers (like your email or username) after the study is concluded.

'''Questions or Problems'''

If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about the study or this information sheet contact the researcher Aaron Shaw at aaronshaw@northwestern.edu

If you have questions about your rights as a research subject or if you think the research has hurt you, you may contact the Northwestern University Institutional Review Board Office at (312) 503-9338 or piper@northwestern.edu.