Participant information - UNAM Sam Nujoma Campus
Participant information online questionnaire (UNAM Sam Nujoma Campus)
TITLE OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT: A Pragmatic Profile of Namibian English (Questionnaire)
REFERENCE NUMBER: SHS 0042
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Professor N. Mlambo (Project lead: Professor Anne Schröder, Bielefeld)
ADDRESS: Office Y059, Unam Main Campus, Windhoek
CONTACT NUMBER: (061) 206 3797 / 081 421 8613
You are being invited to take part in a research project. Please take some time to read the information presented here, which outlines the details of this project. Please contact the researchers with questions about any part of this project that you do not fully understand (at praprone@uni-bielefeld.de). It is very important that you clearly understand what this research is about and how you could be involved. Also, your participation is entirely voluntary and you are free to decline to participate. If you say no, this will not affect you negatively in any way whatsoever. Even if you do agree to take part, you are also free to withdraw from the study at any point.
This study has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee at The University of Namibia and will be conducted according to the ethical guidelines and principles of the international Declaration of Helsinki, South African Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice and Namibian National Research Ethics Guidelines.
1. What is this research study all about?
a) Data for this study will be gathered online from students at the University of Namibia in Henties Bay. Roughly 90 participants will be asked to take part in the study.
b) This project aims to find out how speakers of English in Namibia use the English language to communicate in everyday situations. The way that speakers of Namibian English do this will be compared with data from the UK to find out what is unique to Namibian English. What is being researched in this project has nothing to do with correct or incorrect English; we want to capture the way that Namibian English is used as authentically as possible. Participants’ use of English is not corrected or scored, so they can feel free to use English exactly the way they normally would.
c) Data for this study will be gathered through a special type of online questionnaire. Participants will read descriptions of everyday situations and describe how they would react to them in English. As is common practice in these kinds of studies, participants will also be asked for information on their personal background, such as their age, gender, educational status and area they live in. All data gathered will be stored safely, anonymously, and it will only be used for scientific purposes related to this research project. Withdrawal of consent is possible at any time by contacting the researchers involved (see contact information above).
d) Does not apply.
e) Does not apply.
2. Why have you been invited to participate?
a) You have been asked to participate in this study based on your status as a student at UNAM, but otherwise the choice was random. We have limited the data gathering for this study to university students to keep the data comparable.
3. What will your responsibilities be?
a) If you choose to participate, all you will be asked to do is to fill out the type of questionnaire described above.
b) Filling out the questionnaire should not take longer than 25 minutes.
4. Will you benefit from taking part in this research?
a) While it might be interesting for you to participate and reflect on how you would communicate in certain situations, the study is centrally meant to add to the collective knowledge of how Namibian English is used in everyday settings. Through comparing the findings with data from other countries, we want to find out what makes Namibian English unique and where it is actually similar to other varieties of English. We feel that while there has been a lot of research on communication in English regarding e.g. British or American participants, African Englishes are still underrepresented in this body of research and should receive more attention from the linguistic community. With your participation, you are helping us to achieve this goal.
5. Are there risks involved in your taking part in this research?
a) There will not be any foreseen risks for participants participating in this study, given that it is a questionnaire study without any physical or medical component. We can also assure participants that there are no offensive, brutal, intense, or otherwise psychologically stressful contents included in the questionnaire. The research staff will furthermore ensure that any medical or pandemic-related regulations in place at the time of participation will be followed.
6. If you do not agree to take part, what alternatives do you have?
a) As participation is fully voluntary, the only consequence of deciding to not participate is that no compensation will be paid, which all participants can claim after their data has been collected.
7. Who will have access to your medical records?
a) Does not apply.
8. What will happen in the unlikely event of some form injury occurring as a direct result of your taking part in this research study?
a) There are no forms of injury that could be a direct outcome of participating in the study, so no special insurance or precautions are necessary.
9. Will you be paid to take part in this study and are there any costs involved?
Participants will receive a small compensation fee for participating in the study when they have completed their respective questionnaire. Participants answering questions in writing will receive the equivalent of 5 Euros in Namibian Dollars. The compensation fee is paid irrespective of the contents of participants’ contributions, as long as the data gathering session was fully concluded. Participants will generate a unique code at the end of the online questionnaire that they will have to store safely and present at a specific location and time on campus to receive their payment, to ensure that the compensation for each questionnaire goes to the right person. No costs of any kind to participants will arise due to participating in this study.
10. Is there anything else that you should know or do?
a) Does not apply.
b) Does not apply.
c) You can contact Professor Nelson Mlambo at tel 061 206 3797 if you have any further queries or encounter any problems.
d) You can contact the Centre for Research and Publications at +264 061 2063061; pclaassen@unam.na if you have any concerns or complaints that have not been adequately addressed by the investigator.