PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to understand the motivations behind downloading or reopening a mobile dating application during a pandemic. Additionally, this study will explore the personal experiences of heterosexual-cisgender women who are mobile dating application users during a pandemic.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
To be eligible for participation:
Participants must currently live in the United States.
Participants must be between the ages of 20 to 29.
Participants must identify as heterosexual (attracted to people of the opposite sex).
Participants must identify as a cisgender woman (gender matches the sex that they were assigned at birth).
Participants must have downloaded or reopened a preexisting mobile dating application since March 11, 2020.
PROCEDURE
If interested, email me directly or use the contact page to get in touch with me. Then, I will call you to schedule a brief 5-minute phone screening. Following that, I will schedule a 60-minute individual virtual interview with you on a Zoom audio or video. I will ask questions about your motivation(s) behind downloading a mobile dating application during COVID-19, as well as hearing about your mobile dating experiences during a pandemic.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Your confidentiality will be ensured throughout the whole research process.
Your identifying information will be kept separate from interview materials, and you will choose a pseudonym to use throughout the interview.
INFORMED CONSENT
Investigator: Blake Klinsky, M.A.
Study Title: Just a Swipe Away: Navigating the Motivations Behind Downloading and Using Mobile Dating Applications During a Global Pandemic
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I am a student at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. This study is being conducted as a part of my dissertation requirement for Clinical Psychology.
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I am asking you to participate in a research study about your experiences using mobile dating applications during COVID-19. You will be asked to participate in an interview about your mobile dating application experiences during COVID-19. This will take around 60 minutes and will be recorded. Although you may not benefit, it will help the general public to understand the attitudes, behaviors, and motivations behind mobile dating applications users during a pandemic. Risks associated with this research include emotional and/or psychological discomfort and a breach of confidentiality. Please take your time to read the entire document and feel free to ask any questions.
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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the motivations behind downloading or reopening a mobile dating application during a pandemic. Additionally, this study will explore the personal experiences of heterosexual-cisgender women mobile dating application users during a pandemic.
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Procedures: You will first be contacted to complete a brief 5-mine phone screening. Following that, I will schedule an interview with you at a later date on the phone call if you are eligible to participate in the study. The interview includes questions pertaining to your experiences while using a mobile dating application since March 11, 2020. The interview will be conducted and recorded via Zoom, and it should take around 60 minutes.
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Risks to Participation: Participants may experience emotional and/or psychological discomfort while completing the interview. Additional risks include breach of confidentiality and invasion of privacy. Should this occur, participants are encouraged to refuse any question, skip all questions, or withdraw from the study at any time. If you experience discomfort from your participation in this research study, please refer to the following mental health resource list that will be emailed after the interview:
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National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline: 1-800-950-6264
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Hotline: 1-800-662-4357
Crisis Text Line: Text HELLO to 741741
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Benefits to Participation: There are no direct benefits to your participation. However, it is the researcher’s hope that your willingness to share your information will contribute to a better understanding of the motivations behind downloading a mobile dating application during a pandemic, as well as the experiences of those who are navigating using the applications during that time.
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Alternatives to Participation: Participation in this study is voluntary. You may withdraw from this study at any time without penalty.
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Confidentiality: During this study, information will be collected about you for the purpose of this research such as your name, telephone number, and email address. This includes only taking email addresses from participants that provide them to contact a phone screening interview. These emails will only be used to contact the participant, which will be followed by using a pseudonym for that particular participant for the researcher to reference. Therefore, email addresses will be removed from the answers provided. Once you have completed the research, the results will be coded. There will be no identifiable information that will be associated with your results. However, your confidentiality will be kept to the degree permitted by the technology used. No guarantees can be made regarding the interception of data sent via the Internet by any third parties.
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All reports from the study will be presented as overall results. All data will be downloaded to a password-protected spreadsheet and password-protected laptop. Audio recordings will be deleted immediately following transcription. The transcriptions will be stored in a folder on my password-protected laptop. The laptop is password-protected and will be kept in my locked residence. Research materials will be kept for a minimum of five years after publication per American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines. After this time, the electronic files will be deleted from my laptop.
It is possible that your data may be used for future research or distributed to another researcher without your consent. However, information that could identify you will be removed.
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Your research records may be reviewed by federal agencies whose responsibility is to protect human subjects participating in research, including the Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) and by representatives from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Institutional Review Board, a committee that oversees research.
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Questions/Concerns: If you have questions related to the procedures described in this document, please contact Blake Klinsky at bklinsky@ego.thechicagoschool.edu and the dissertation chair Dr. Braden Berkey at bberkey@thechicagoschool.edu.
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If you have questions concerning your rights in this research study, you may contact the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is concerned with the protection of subjects in research projects. You may reach the IRB office Monday-Friday by calling (312) 467-2335 or in writing at:
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Institutional Review Board
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
325 N. Wells
Chicago, Illinois 60654
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Consent to Participate in Research:
I have read the above information and have received satisfactory answers to my questions. I understand the research project and the procedures involved have been explained to me. I agree to participate in this study. My participation is voluntary, and I do not have to say yes to this form if I do not want to be part of this research project. I will refer to a copy of this consent form on the researcher’s website for my records. I will verbally indicate that I have read the description of the study and I agree to participate in the study.