SmartSurveys

SmartSurveys is a joint collaboration project interested in the ways persons submit service feedback on mobile devices in the community. This study is conducted on behalf of researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo (UW). The principal investigators are Dr. James Wallace from the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo, and Dr. Josephine McMurray from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Laurier, assisted by student investigator, Tina Chan.

Purpose of SmartSurveys

The purpose of this study is to understand the barriers that prevent you from sharing information about your service experiences. In this study, we collect your feedback about the services you visit on the Laurier and UW campuses as well as other services you might experience at selected locations in the greater Kitchener-Waterloo Region. We are interested in when you share information about your service experiences, and what influences that decision when the information is collected using your smartphone.

It is expected that overall, this study will provide us with critical information on whether smartphones might be used to collect individuals’ opinions on their experiences with different types of service providers, an important step in improving community services.

Participate in SmartSurveys

Participation in this study is voluntary. You can withdraw at any time without any negative consequences by advising the researcher.

In order to participate in this study, you must own a smartphone with a data package, a functional GPS and sound alerts features. If you choose to participate in this research study, you will be asked to sign an informed consent and provide demographic information such as age, gender and field of study or area of employment. This study will span over four weeks (28 days) and does not require you to meet with the researchers except for intake assessments and exit procedures such as prize results, paper-based substitutions of forms unable to be processed electronically, and alternative consent forms if needs arise.

If you have any questions regarding this study or would like additional information to assist you in reaching a decision about participation, contact Dr. Josephine McMurray at 519.756.8228 x5649 or email jmcmurray@wlu.ca.  

Prizes

For your participation, you will receive a $10 gift card to Amazon.ca. In addition, ballots earned towards the draw for available prizes (e.g. Nintendo Switch, headphones, rock climbing or yoga passes) that can be retained even if you drop out of the study at any point.

Responses and Confidentiality

You are not obligated to accept the invitation to respond and you are not obligated to respond to any or all of the questions. Your responses will be recorded in the MetricWire app. All information collected in this study will only be visible to the researchers. However, the researchers have limited control over metadata collected by third party developers for their assessments, as well as data hosted outside of Canada subject to international local laws. You may decline to answer any of the question(s) on questionnaires or posed by the researchers on any materials, if you wish.  

All information you provide is considered completely confidential. Identifying information will be kept separate from your collected data. Your name will not appear in any thesis or report resulting from this study; however, with your permission anonymous quotations may be used. Data collected during this study will be retained for seven years in a digital folder on a password protected secure server or in a locked cabinet in room SCJ301 on the Laurier campus. Only researchers associated with this project will have access. There are no known or anticipated risks to you as a participant in this study.

Research Ethics Clearance

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee and the Wilfrid Laurier University Research Ethics Board. If you have questions for the committees, contact:

• Chief Ethics Officer, Office of Research Ethics, University of Waterloo at 519.888.4567 x36005 or ore-ceo@uwaterloo.ca 
• Jayne Kalmar, PhD, Chair, University Research Ethics Board, Wilfrid Laurier University at 519.884.1970, x3131 or REBChair@wlu.ca