Investigating Individual Differences and Cannabis use motives and patterns 

 

Participant Information Sheet

 

You are being invited to take part in a study as part of a student educational experience. Before you decide, it is important for you to understand why the work is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish. Please ask me if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part.

What is the purpose of this study?

The purpose of this study is to find out whether some personality traits will be related to or predict different cannabis use motives and patterns. It will also try and determine whether any of these relations will be predictors of any negative mental health outcomes. This project is important due to the lack of information we have regarding individual differences and cannabis use. If we find more about this grey area in psychology, we may be able to see if some individual differences are better predictors at some cannabis motives and patterns as well as if any negative mental health outcomes can be connected to those found predictors.

Why have I been chosen?

You have been chosen to take part in this study because we are looking at individual differences between cannabis users.

Do I have to take part?

It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. If you do decide to take part you will be given this information sheet to keep and be asked to sign a consent form. If you decide to take part, you are still free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason. To withdraw from the study, you will need to provide the researcher a memorable word you will put in while filling out the consent form. This way your data will be found very quickly without the need for further personal information.

What will happen to me if I take part?

The study requires to complete an online questionnaire which should take approximately 45 minutes. It will ask you questions about personality, cannabis use and cannabis use motives as well us some questions about your mental well being. The questionnaire will also have some short demographic questions about your gender, age and ethnicity.

What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?

This study does include questions about illegal activity; however, I ensure that any information provided will not be shared, this questionnaire is fully anonymous. Question Pro does record regional IP addresses, but individual address locations are not taken. Any regional IP addresses are also not used, shared or accessed by anyone. 

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

If you take part in the study, it will help further the research in this area of psychology. As this day we lack a lot of information about the individual differences between cannabis users, their motives and patterns this data will help us to shed some light on the questions we still have.

Data Protection Privacy Notice

The data controller for this project will be University of the West of Scotland (UWS). The UWS Data Protection Office provides oversight of UWS activities involving the processing of personal data, and can be contacted at dataprotection@uws.ac.uk. UWS’s Data Protection Officer is Emma Cockrow and she can also be contacted at dataprotection@uws.ac.uk.

Your personal data will be processed for the purposes outlined in this notice. The legal basis that would be used to process your personal data will be [the provision of your consent.]

Your personal data will be processed so long as it is required for the research project. If we are able to anonymise or pseudonymise the personal data you provide we will undertake this, and will endeavour to minimise the processing of personal data wherever possible.

If you are concerned about how your personal data is being processed, please contact UWS in the first instance at dataprotection@uws.ac.uk. If you remain unsatisfied, you may wish to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Contact details, and details of data subject rights, are available on the ICO website at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-reform/overview-of-the-gdpr/individuals-rights/

Detail any intended recipients of personal data if not explained elsewhere, and also advise if any personal data will be transferred outside the EEA, and if so to where.

What will happen to the results of the research study?

Any data will be stored on the UWS server and hard copies of the data stored in lock filing cabinet. Only the researcher and the researcher supervisor will have access to the data. After the deadline for the dissertation project any data online or hard copied will deleted and destroyed.

ESS Ethics Committee-Approval Number: 

Contact for further information

If you require any further information please contact:

Beata Ciesluk

University of the West of Scotland,

High Street,

Paisley,

PA1 2BE

UK

Lucy Troup

University of the West of Scotland,

High Street,

Paisley,

PA1 2BE

UK

Thank you for taking part in this study.