Informed Consent For Business Advisory Network
Workplace Accommodations Survey of Businesses
Georgia Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator: Michael Williams, Ph. D.
Co-Principal Investigator: Jon Sanford, M. Arch.
You are being asked to be a volunteer in a research study. The purpose of this study is to better understand how to make workplaces more accessible for all workers including people with disabilities and aging workers. If you decide to be in this study, your part will involve completing a Survey of Businesses to help provide a clearer perspective on existing workplace environments. We anticipate approximately 200-300 business persons such as yourself will contribute to this study. We anticipate that the online survey will take about 30-45 minutes to complete.
There is no direct benefit to you for participating in this study and there are no foreseeable risks. We hope that the results of the study will improve rehabilitation practices and lead to greater employment opportunities for people with disabilities. You will not receive any financial compensation for completing this or any future surveys.
The data that is collected about you and your company will be kept private to the extent allowed by law. To protect your privacy, your records will be associated with a code number rather than your name. Your records will be kept in locked files and only study staff will be allowed to look at them. Your name and any other fact that might identify you or your company will not appear when results of this study are presented or published. If you complete a web-version of any survey, you should be aware that the experiment is not being run from a "secure" https server of the kind typically used to handle credit card transactions, so there is a remote possibility that responses could be viewed by unauthorized third parties (e.g., computer hackers).
Contact information will be stored in a database and location separate from your survey answers, and will be used strictly to contact you about other Business Advisory Network activities.
To make sure that this research is being carried out in the proper way, the Georgia Institute of Technology Office of Human Research Protections may review study records. The sponsor of this study, the U.S. Department of Education, also has the right to review study records. Again, your privacy will be protected to the extent allowed by law.
There are no financial costs to you to participate. Postage for mail versions of the survey will be provided. Your participation in this study is voluntary. You do not have to be in this study if you don't want to be. You will be notified of any changes in the survey procedures. You have the right to change your mind and leave the study at any time without giving any reason, and without penalty. You do not waive any of your legal rights by agreeing to this consent form.
You have rights as a research volunteer. If you have any questions about the survey or your participation, feel free to contact Dr. Michael Williams at (800) 726-9119. You may call anytime and leave your name, phone number and a good time for our staff to call you back. You may also call on weekdays between the hours of 9am and 5pm EST if you wish to talk to an assistant. If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject, you may contact Ms. Melanie Clark at the Office of Research Compliance, Georgia Institute of Technology at (404) 894-6942.
Thank you,
Michael Williams, Ph. D., Principal Investigator
Jon Sanford, M. Arch., Co-Principal Investigator
If you would prefer another format to complete this survey, call 1-800-726-9119.
If you answer the following questions, it means that you have read (or have had read to you) the information contained in this letter, and you would like to be a volunteer in this study.
[ I ACCEPT, AND VOLUNTEER TO BE IN THE STUDY]
