*Please note: Data collection has ended. These questions will remain available for those interested in learning more about the project, but Project CURSV is no longer recruiting participants.

Frequently asked questions for student participants:

What is the purpose of this study?

The purpose of this study is to compare how universities in the United States and the United Kingdom respond to reports of sexual violence. While the U.S. and U.K. have similar student populations and university cultures, they have drastically different models for responding to university sexual violence. In exploring the similarities and differences in U.S. and U.K. university responses to sexual violence, this project aims to open up space for a collaboration of practices in order to better support victims/survivors.

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 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. If you wish to withdraw your data from this project, you may ask to do so until a month after your interview, at which point I will then destroy your data. Should you wish to withdraw, please email me with the subject line “Withdrawing Data.”

Your choosing to participate or not participate in this study will have no bearing on your assessments, campus housing, or future studies.

What will happen to me if I take part?

If you decide to participate, I will interview you via Skype. Our conversation will last between 45 minutes and 1 hour, and will cover the following areas:

• What it was like to disclose to your university your experience of sexual violence
• What university services or channels you used in disclosing
• Your thoughts on the effectiveness and supportiveness of the disclosure/response process

You will have the option of allowing me to audio record your interview and may ask me at any point during the interview to stop recording, even if you initially agreed to it.

You will also have the opportunity to review your transcribed interview and comment on it in order to clarify your thoughts, expand on a point you made, mark information that you feel could identify you if I include it in my thesis, or otherwise approve it. I will automatically send the interview transcript to you, at which point you will have two weeks to return it to me with your comments.

Due to the sensitive nature of the interview topics, you may feel distressed at some point. Before we begin the interview, we will talk about how you would like me to support you during and after our conversation to make sure you feel as safe as possible.

Will you keep what I say in this study confidential? How will you protect my information?

All information that I collect about you will be kept strictly confidential (subject to legal limitations—I cannot keep information confidential if it includes you threatening harm to yourself or others, or if someone’s health or safety is at risk, as I will have to report that to the authorities). I will ensure your privacy and anonymity in the following way:

Prior to our conversation, I will give you a number (like N34) and you will choose a fake name (like Leslie Knope), or have me assign you one. In a password-protected location, I will keep a list that details who N34 and “Leslie Knope” is. I will do the same process for the university you attend, which will be kept in another list in a password-protected location. I will keep these lists for a year after I complete this project in order to continue analysing and publishing the data, but they will be redacted as much as possible and stored on an encrypted disc drive, and each list will also have its own password. Only I as the researcher will have access to this encoded identity data, and in all of my notes and on the recording, I will only refer to you and your university by pseudonyms.

I will use the data from this study in my Ph.D. thesis, conference talks, and journal articles. All data referenced will be anonymised and will not have any information included which could potentially identify you or your university.

These recordings will be kept in a password-protected file on my password-protected laptop for the duration of my research project, and shared only potentially with my supervisor, though she will not have access to my laptop or the passwords. I will keep this anonymised data for 10 years, which is standard practice, and may use it for other projects and future analysis during that time period.

What will happen to the results of this research study?

The results of this research will be used in my thesis for my Ph.D. in Education at the University of York. This research study will be published onto the White Rose eTheses Online (WREO) Repository upon completion, and I can send you the access information via email if you would like to read the finished piece.