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Living in student accommodation

Participant information

Thank you for your interest in this study! This information page forms part of the process of informed consent. It should tell you what the research is about and what taking part will involve. Please read this information sheet carefully and ask one of the researchers named at the end of this page if you have any questions.

1. What is the purpose of the project?
This study explores how students' water and energy use habits change when they move into university accommodation. The findings will help researchers better understand behaviour change and support the development of more sustainable student accommodation.

2. Why have I been selected to take part?
Any first-year undergraduate student at the University of Bath aged 18 and above, proficient in English, and living in university accommodation can take part in these surveys.

3. Do I have to take part?
It is completely up to you to decide if you would like to take part or not. If you agree to take part, you will then be asked to confirm your consent on the next page. However, if at any time you decide you no longer wish to take part in this project, you are free to withdraw your participation without giving a reason.

4. What will I be asked to do?
This study is split into two online surveys:
- Survey 1 (September): Questions about your water and energy use habits before moving to university.
- Survey 2 (November): Questions about your water and energy use habits after living in university accommodation for a few months.
Taking part is voluntary. This is the Survey 2. You do not need to have completed the first survey to take part in this one.

5. What are the exclusion criteria?
You cannot take part in the study if you are not proficient enough in English to understand the survey, under 18, not a first-year student at the University of Bath living or soon to be living in university accommodation.

6. What are the possible benefits of taking part?
Participants of each survey will enter a prize draw to win one of 10 x £20 vouchers (Bath City Gift Card). Winners will be selected randomly, and the vouchers will be paid following each survey.
Participation in this study will contribute to key research into behaviour changes and the development and implementation of new technologies for sustainable accommodation.

7. What are the possible disadvantages?
We do not anticipate any disadvantages to you taking part in the project. If the questionnaire asks a question that you do not want to answer for any reason, you can choose not to answer.

8. Will my participation involve any discomfort or embarrassment?
We do not expect you to feel any discomfort or embarrassment if you take part in the project.

9. Who will have access to the information that I provide?
Other researchers from the project approved by ethical procedures may have access to information that you provide. All records will be treated as confidential and stored securely.

10. What will happen to the data collected and the results of the project?
Anonymised research data may be published in a peer review journal, shared in conferences, and deposited in the Open Science Framework (OSF), an online research repository operated by the Center for Open Science. The dataset may be publicly accessible to other researchers and members of the public. All data collected during the project including personal and identifiable information will be treated as confidential and kept in a locked room or on a password protected file on the University’s secure server. This storage of all data will be done in accordance with University policy following The Data Protection Act (2018) and kept for a minimum of 10 years once the project is finished. Your name or any other identifying information will not be disclosed in any presentation or publication of the research.

If you provide an email address to enter the prize draw or to be contacted for the second survey, it will be stored separately from your survey responses and cannot be linked to them. Email addresses will be deleted after the prize draw of the survey 2 has been completed.

After the project has finished, we can provide you with a summary of the project results if you would like. This summary will not include any identifiable information and will only show the overall findings of the project.

11. Who has reviewed the project?
This project has been given approval by the University of Bath, Data and Digital Science Research Ethics Committee [reference: 17212-21030].

12. How can I withdraw from the project?
If you wish to withdraw before submitting the survey, simply close your browser and your responses will not be saved. After submitting your responses, you may withdraw by contacting Angèle Macé ([email protected]) within two weeks of the survey 2 closing in November. During this period, your responses can be identified using your participant code and removed from the study. After this two-week period, it will no longer be possible to withdraw your data because all identifying codes will be deleted, and the survey responses will be fully anonymous.

13. The University of Bath privacy notice
The University of Bath privacy notice can be found here: https://www.bath.ac.uk/corporate-information/university-of-bath-privacy-notice-for-research-participants/

14. What happens if there is a problem?
If you have a concern about any aspect of the project, you should ask to speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer any questions. If they are unable to resolve your concern or you wish to make a complaint regarding the project, please contact the Research Governance and Compliance Team at [email protected].

15. If I require further information, who should I contact and how?
Thank you for expressing an interest in participating in this project. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with Angèle Macé ([email protected]) if you would like further information.

Name of researcher: Angèle Macé
Contact details of researcher: [email protected]

Name of supervisor: Tom Arnot
Contact details of supervisor: [email protected]

Name of supervisor: Lorraine Whitmarsh
Contact details of supervisor: [email protected]

Name of supervisor: Peter Phelps
Contact details of supervisor: [email protected]
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