Information Sheet
Principal Investigator: Alex Wasdahl
Organization: University of California, Los Angeles
Project: Examining Experiences with the Production and Consumption of Automated News
Introduction
My name is Alex Wasdahl and I am a PhD candidate at University of California, Los Angeles. I am doing research on automated journalism, the practice of generating news content using algorithms. The purpose of this document is to give you information about my research and invite you to be a part of it. Before you decide, you can talk to anyone you feel comfortable with about the research. If you do not understand some of the words or concepts, feel free to reach out and I can explain them.
Purpose of the research
The purpose of this study is to obtain information about participant media consumption behaviors.
Type of Research Intervention
This research will involve your participation in a survey that will take less than 5 minutes.
Voluntary Participation
Your participation in this research is entirely voluntary. It is your choice whether to participate or not. If you choose not to participate, nothing will change. You may change your mind later and stop participating even if you agreed earlier.
Procedures
This study employs a survey. Surveys present windows into a particular domain based on information obtained during a certain time period. Surveys offer snapshots of their subjects that are comparable over time and across cases.
Risks
There is a risk that you may feel uncomfortable responding to a particular question. You do not have to answer any question or take part in the survey if you feel the question(s) are too personal or if responding to them makes you uncomfortable.
Benefits
There will be no direct benefit to you, but your participation is likely to help illuminate information about media consumption behaviors.
Confidentiality
The information that collected from this research project will be kept private. Any information about you will have a number on it instead of your name. Only the researchers will know what your number is and the information will be encrypted and password protected. It will not be shared with or given to anyone outside the research team. Your data, including de-identified data may be kept for use in future research.
This survey asks for your name and email. Based on your survey responses, the researcher may send you an e-mail in the future requesting a short follow-up interview. You may withhold this information if you do not wish to include your name and/or e-mail.
Right to Refuse or Withdraw
You do not have to take part in this research if you do not wish to do so, and choosing to participate will not affect you in any way. You may stop participating at any time that you wish without being affected.
Who to Contact
If you have any questions, you may contact:
Alex Wasdahl, alexwasdahl@g.ucla.edu
If you have questions about your rights as a research subject, or you have concerns or suggestions and you want to talk to someone other than the researchers, you may contact the UCLA OHRPP by phone: (310) 206-2040; by email: participants@research.ucla.edu or by mail: Box 951406, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1406.