I'm Back, Paperwork was approved

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Feb 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Sara	24 Feb 2003
Hey everyone, I'm back,the paperwork I had to do for the project is done and approved by the Review Board, they OKed my research project. Anyway, I do have to post an "Informed Consent" document, or a link to it, with any questions I ask now. I will post the document on this thread for people to read and see if they have any questions about it. Tomorrow I'm putting it on my website and I'll just provide a link to it for anything else I post that is research related. Some of this will be pretty obvious to anyone who has ever used the internet or any kind of posting board, but I'm required to remind anyone of any risks there might be in participation, which includes any risks associated with simply being on the internet. There's also a paragraph in there about excluded populations. This is required by the university. For this type of research it probably isn't that important, but all the same, I'm legally bound to follow the rules if I suspect anyone is a member of the excluded populations. So far I don't suspect anyone who has responded to be a member of those groups, and if you don't tell, I don't know... Anyway, I will post the document, and over the next few days a few last questions (I had actually almost finished asking research related questions by the time I found out I needed to do the paperwork). If you have any questions at all regarding the Informed Consent Document, feel free to ask. Sara

Sara	24 Feb 2003
Informed Consent Document I am Sara Caldwell, an undergraduate student in anthropology at Illinois State University. I am doing research on the use of tarot cards by various people. I am researching the stories that have become associated with the imagery in the cards, and whether or not they have taken on the characteristics and functions of mythology. Mythology, for the purposes of this study, can very simply be defined as a story or set of stories which cannot necessarily be proven true or false, which guide people in behavior and/or spiritual beliefs, and which can convey moral values and can act as a lens through which people interpret the world. In order to establish whether or not the tarot has taken on these characteristics of myth, I am asking questions on various posting boards related to the use of tarot cards and people’s beliefs about them. Questions related to the imagery in tarot, the ideas and stories associated with the images, and questions about myth itself, and what it is to people will also be posted. Participants are simply asked to respond to the posted questions, which I will post one at a time over a period of a few weeks. One is considered a participant in the research if one responds any of the posted questions, either on the posting board itself, or by emailing me at sscaldw@ilstu.edu. Participation is completely voluntary, and people may withdraw at any time without penalty of any kind. If an individual has answered any posted questions and then does not want their responses to be used in the study, they may inform me by either posting their wishes on the thread itself or by emailing me privately, and I will not use their responses in my research. All responses sent to me by email will remain completely confidential and anonymous. Only I and my research advisor, Dr. Robert Dirks, will have access to them, and I will delete them as soon as the research is finished. Those who answer the questions by posting their responses to the posting board should already be aware of the risks of using a posting board. However, those individuals are reminded here that all responses on posting boards can be read by anyone who chooses to view that particular posting board. While most often the people who view the posts have similar interests to the one who posted their response, like the posting board moderator, I cannot assure people that their responses will not be read by someone with malicious intent. If you choose to respond through the posting board, you are responsible for maintaining your anonymity on the posting board. No one’s names or identifying information will appear in the actual research project. All copies of data that I have which are separate from the posting board shall be destroyed at the end of the project. If any event arises in which the data on the posting bard should pose a significant risk to the individual who posted the information, they may contact me privately and I will contact the moderator and request that the post be deleted, although I cannot guarantee that it will be. It should be noted by all individuals who wish to participate that Illinois State University research policies exclude certain populations from some studies for legal reasons. Because this research must follow university guidelines, the following populations must be excluded: minors (anyone under the age of eighteen), prisoners, pregnant women, and mentally incapacitated individuals. Most people remain anonymous on the Internet, making it difficult to establish whether or not people are members of the excluded populations. However, if I have any reason to believe a respondent is a member of any of the mentioned populations, their responses will be excluded from the research. If anyone has any questions regarding the research or the questions they may call me, Sara Caldwell, at (309) 365-8436, or email me at sscaldw@ilstu.edu, or contact me via the posting board. People may also contact my advisor, Dr. Robert Dirks, at (309) 438-7698 or at rtdirks@ilstu.edu. Questions may also be directed to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, at (309) 438-2528.

Alex	25 Feb 2003
Interesting qualifiers. Pregnant women can't answer? I'm sure these guidelines have been designed for some farmacetical test and then incorporated into the university's burocratic system without further modifications. What a stupid restriction. That's a good thing to see, where people's tax money end: paying incompetent burocrats who don't even lend themselves to doing their own jobs well. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by Sara It should be noted by all individuals who wish to participate that Illinois State University research policies exclude certain populations from some studies for legal reasons. Because this research must follow university guidelines, the following populations must be excluded: minors (anyone under the age of eighteen), prisoners, pregnant women, and mentally incapacitated individuals.

Sara	25 Feb 2003
Agreed!!! some of the restrictions are pointless and irritating, and you're probably right on target as to why they are there. One size doesn't fit all, but the Review Comittees seem to think it does. I certainly don't agree with all of the restrictions (most of them, yes, but not all of them). These are the things that should be taught in classes, but never are. So often I'm not told about requirements until its almost too late, and have to hope I find out far enough in advance that it doesn't hurt too much in the long run. Oh well, at least I'm learning now about all of the hoops that one must jump through...sigh. Sara

Sara	26 Feb 2003
Perhaps I should just post this on a new thread. I might later on, but I have a question for those people who have been involved in the project. Alex, I read your thread on plagiarism, and I agree with it 100%. It reminded me, however, of another, directly related, issue that I need to bring up with people here. Thank you. When I first started this project, I assumed that if I did quote anyone directly, I could give them credit for it in my paper if they wanted it. Unfortunately, I have found out that this may not neccessarily be the case. Legally, by University rules, I am required to maintain everyone's complete anonymity. This is also standard ethical procedure in Anthropology in general. This is primarily to protect everyone who has participated in the project, but it puts me into a dilemma. If I am required to maintain anonymity, I cannot give a person credit for their thoughts. Granted, I was not planning on quoting people directly, the nature of the questions are to get a general idea of people's thoughts about and uses of tarot. At the same time, I had wanted to summarize some people's views as examples. In most anthropological books I've read standard procedure was to give random nicknames to participants, if individuals were mentioned at all, and even groups under study were often renamed in the anthropological work for the sake of maintaining confidentiality. I plan on following university rules, and maintain confidentiality, I don't really have much say in the matter. In the event that I would want to summarize someone's response, I will certainly ask permission first, but I most likely cannot give credit for it (unless you have a web page that is publically accessable where you have stated a similar opinion--since web sites are in the public domain, I can cite and credit them...) I really would like to hear people's thoughts on this, though. I think it is important to hear what people have to say about these grey areas. Sara

jmd	26 Feb 2003
On this site, I think there are only one or two people who have used their full names as their identities. Some have certainly used their first names, or, as in my case, initials. These, however, would not be sufficient to correctly identify the individuals concerned. Personally, if a person is quoted or paraphrased, the nature of your questions would suggest that 'identification' ought to be feasible (eg: 'jmd on Aeclectic wrote that sheep are not always cosmic entities, and that their sound is not connected in any way to ba'haism - though toasters can, in fact, at times provide accurate semiotic responses when properly uncorked' - or such other sensible sentence). There certainly seems to be a place where anonymity may increase useful information gathering, and also a place where, such as on this public board of this website, due acknowledgement may be due - as it would be if the questions were published in a newspaper and various answers came as letters-to-the-editor. In any case, do what you need to for the best possible report :)

RiccardoLS	26 Feb 2003
Quote: Originally posted by jmd 'sheep are not always cosmic entities, and that their sound is not connected in any way to ba'haism - though toasters can, in fact, at times provide accurate semiotic responses when properly uncorked' I absolutely disagree. Riccardo p.s. Sorry Sara... I know You are working on a very serious thread, but I couldn't help myself :) Really.

Major Tom	26 Feb 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Sara I am researching the stories that have become associated with the imagery in the cards, and whether or not they have taken on the characteristics and functions of mythology. :eek: I can't believe someone hasn't done this before! :eek: Tarot is myth. *shrugs* I suppose it is. :D Quote: Originally posted by Sara In the event that I would want to summarize someone's response, I will certainly ask permission first, but I most likely cannot give credit for it (unless you have a web page that is publically accessable where you have stated a similar opinion--since web sites are in the public domain, I can cite and credit them...) We're writing the myth as we go along. I want credit if you use what I've written. It is very easy to establish my identity via my website: http://www.majortom.biz })

Umbrae	26 Feb 2003
Then again…if you want to quote…can’t you just ask, “Can I use your real name or should I use a nickname?” Toasters create true myths…

firemaiden	26 Feb 2003
If anyone quotes my toaster, they have to give it credit!!

jmd	26 Feb 2003
[just a little note for non-subscribers - the references above are from a thread in one of the non-tarot-specific subscriber only forums located below - they only make full contextual sense if one has also read firemaiden's 500th post, and numerous other threads across the forum... hope this helps, sara :)]

The I'm Back, Paperwork was approved thread was originally posted on 24 Feb 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.