Title of Research Study: Medical Opinions and Obesity Study
Principal Investigator: Dr. Robert Carels Ph.D.
Institution/Department or Division: East Carolina University Department of Psychology
Address: 114 Rawl Building, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
Telephone #: (252)737-5071
Study Sponsor/Funding Source: No external funding or sponsorship
Dear Participant,
Our names are Robert Carels Ph.D. and James Rossi M.A.at East Carolina University. Dr. Carels is a professor investigating issues related to obesity, weight loss and weight stigma in the Psychology Department at East Carolina University. James Rossi is a first year clinical-health psychology doctoral student working with Dr. Carels. We are asking you to take part in my research study entitled “Medical Opinions and Obesity.”
The purpose of this research is to examine the opinions of medical professionals as it relates to the condition of obesity, as well as the social, economic and health implications related to the way obesity is viewed by the medical community. Your participation is completely voluntary.
You are being invited to take part in this research because you are a health professional or medical/nursing student whose opinions we are interested in. Participation will take approximately 15-20 minutes and would be greatly appreciated.
If you agree to take part in this survey, you will be asked questions that relate to the American Medical Association’s decision to label obesity a disease, as well as the implications of this. You will also be asked information relevant to your current or prospective career, and attitudes about obesity in general.
This research is overseen by the ECU Institutional Review Board. Therefore some of the IRB members or the IRB staff may need to review my research data. However the information collected in this survey will never be linked personally to you. Therefore, your responses cannot be traced back to you by anyone
including us.
If you have questions about your rights when taking part in this research, call the Office of Research Integrity & Compliance (ORIC) at phone number 252-744-2914 (days, 8:00 am-5:00 pm). If you would like to report a complaint or concern about this research study, call the Director of ORIC, at 252-744-1971. Furthermore, researchers Robert Carels can be reached at carelsr14@ecu.edu and James Rossi can be reached at rossij14@students.ecu.edu.
You do not have to take part in this research, and you can stop at any time. If you decide you are willing to take part in this study, please indicate that you have read and agree to these terms below, then proceed to the survey on the following pages. Thank you for taking the time to participate in our research.
Sincerely,
Robert Carels Ph.D and James Rossi M.A.
113 and 114 Rawl Building
East Carolina University
Department of Psychology
