As I have told you over the phone, and as was stated in the informed consent statement you signed, participation is voluntary, and you have the right to drop out of the study at any time and have any information you may have already provided not be included in my final analyses.
This study will be used as my thesis for my masters degree requirement in psychology. However, it is possible that I may attempt to present the information from the study at conferences and/or attempt to get the study published in a professional journal. Any information about your experience I do utilize will not be identified with your actual identity. I will only refer to you as you assigned codename (so no readers of my final write up will ever know your real identity). And I will be the only person who will ever know the actual identities of each participant, and I will keep the confidential codename list separate and locked away in a filing cabinet.
As we have also previously discussed, there is a possibility you may know some of the other participants in this study, and you may recognize who they are as you read and comment to their blog posts. This means it is impossible for me to ensure your anonymity. However, if you do "recognize" a fellow-participant, it is important that you do not divulge that information in your posts or in your comments to others' posts. Only refer to fellow-participants as their assigned codenames, and only comment on the things they have written in their narratives.
To help protect you identity, I will have absolute control over the individual blog sights that were created in advance for you. All the individual participant blogs were created in my name, so if anyone tries to trace who created your blog, they will be directed to me. Also, complete control of the blogs will allow me to make sure nobody changes the formatting of the blog (which I intentionally formatted to protect your identities as much as possible); and it will allow me to screen any personally identifying information. I will simply provide you with the username and password, so you can access your individual blog (if you forget or lose your username and/or password, just let me know, and I will get it to you again). Also, the things you post on your individual weblogs will not be accessible to the public. Only those involved in the study—fellow participants, my research adviser, and myself—will be allowed access to read what you have written.
It is not my intention to censor you in any way. Please feel free to say or express yourself in any way you like. In fact, if you hold back, the reality of your experience will not be fully expressed, and I won't get accurate information concerning veteran-to-college student transitions. I will only change or delete information that could reveal the actual identity of a participant (and I will be sure to let you know if I make a change and why).
If you wish to continue communicating with a participant (or participants) after the study has ended, let me know. I will then contact the participant (or participants) to see if they feel comfortable exchanging personal information (such as name, email address, phone number, etc.). However, it is important to understand that any personal information shared through email may not be secure.
Finally, it is possible that recalling and writing about personal information that you may not have thought about in a long time may cause you to experience personal or emotional discomfort. If you experience any such discomfort, please contact me or my research supervisor ASAP, and we will be able to assist you in finding the most appropriate help.
On the other hand, writing about difficult personal experiences can also function as a healing process in itself. And the information you provide may contribute to enhanced understanding of the transition process college veterans experience.
If you have any questions regarding anything pertaining to this study, please feel free to contact me at any time.
