Ethical Approval Form 6LI022 The Professional Project Students Name: Project Title: Supervisor: 1. Wolverhampton Business School take the issue of ethical consent extremely seriously. The ethical category of all research done in the school provides a consistent analysis of research. Where research is being undertaken in Category B the research will not receive consent by the project supervisor but must be taken by the Leisure Ethics representative to the School Research Committee. Research categorised as ‘B’ is unlikely to gain consent when conducted by an undergraduate or taught Masters student. Please consider the categories carefully and indicate on the next page the category which you, the student, feels best describes your project. Most student research is categorised as A, but you need to demonstrate that you have thought this through in Sections 6 and 7. CATEGORY A Category A is research where the risks to participants or the researchers are well-known and been well established in research. Authors making ethical proposals should indicate the extent to which procedures being proposed have been used previously. Most methods of research and methodologies that are likely to be used by researchers can be evidenced and consequently the risks to participants versus the knowledge gain should be identifiable. Undergraduate students and students on taught M levels courses are expected to conduct research classified as Category A. Ethical approval for Category A projects will be considered at subject level by the Subject/Departmental Ethics Sub-committee on an individual basis. CATEGORY B Category B is where the risks to participants balanced against the benefits of gathering the data are not clear. Greater emphasis is placed on protecting the well being of participants, including the researchers, but emphasis is also placed on research that is meaningless and adds little value. Category B projects will involve an invasive procedure that has not been used previously in research. Routine tests (blood lactate), where the procedures are well published are classified as Category A. However, it should be noted that blood collection involves a number of health and safety issues that need to be adhered to. Emphasis is placed on the research team to find evidence to demonstrate what the risks are to participants and this is typically done by providing examples where research has been conducted previously. Department ethics committees can propose that a project is Category B and forward the work to the School ethics committee. Undergraduates will not normally be permitted to carry out Category B projects and therefore the Department ethics committee should suggest to the student and supervisor that methods be modified to fall under the rubric of an A category classification. Category B projects carry greater risk and should involve greater staff involvement and therefore staff should only agree to supervise students for whom they can provide appropriate support. CATEGORY U This is the lowest risk category. The project is classified as a U category if: a) there are no research participants being recruited, b) the risks involved to the researcher are minimal, c) the data being used is already in the public domain, d) ethical clearance for data collection has been granted elsewhere. If the researcher is unsure on the answer to any of the four points above, he/she should indicate that the research as A category project. According to School guidelines, the outlined work is categorised as: 1. Category A 2. Category B 3. Category U 2. Informed consent: Participants have been/will be fully informed of the risks and benefits of the procedures and of their right to refuse participation or withdraw from the research at any time. Students will need to provide copies of informed consent in their final submitted project. 1. I agree 2. I do not agree 3. There are no participants in this study 3. My project will adhere to issues of confidentiality: The confidentiality and anonymity of all participants in the work specified above will be maintained during collection, analysis, dissemination and subsequent storage and disposal of material. Students should consider how different materials will be stored, particularly when carrying such materials to and from university. In addition students must indicate for how long materials will be stored to participants, noting that for the purposes of assessment such materials may need to be submitted to those marking the project, or external examiners, for the purposes of authenticating such material. 1. I agree 2. I do not agree 3. There are no participants in this study 4. Are participants in your study going to be recruited from a potentially vulnerable group? Vulnerable groups can include young people under the age of 18 yrs old, the elderly, disabled or mentally ill. Some studies can also be looking at vulnerable groups where other cultures may not instantly recognise that vulnerability. Students should take care when thinking about this issue and seek guidance from their supervisor. 1. No 2. Yes. If yes you need to include an information sheet and where necessary, an informed consent form. Informed consent forms do not need to be developed in instances where the participants are just being asked to complete a questionnaire 3. There are no participants in this study. 5. Are your participants performing tests that require physical activity? 1. Yes. If yes you need to include a pre-exercise health screening form. 2. No 3. There are no participants 6. Are there risks for those involved in the research activity? Please indicate how you have considered the risks involved in undertaking your research to both yourself and to those you are researching. You may like to consider this in terms of a ‘health and safety’ risk assessment discussing how the approach minimises risk and how all participants could take action to protect themselves and others. If you have identified your research as Category A in Section 1, you should now refer to the research methods you will use and how well established these methods are in your subject area. 7. Have all potentially contentious issues been discussed? You cannot simply say ‘yes’; you must briefly recap all the ethical issues you have considered in categorising your research. Student Declaration: The information given in this project proposal has been carefully considered. I/We understand that if ethical considerations have not been addressed in full the project proposal will fail as an assessment. I/We further understand that if I/we have not correctly categorised the project proposal it may be returned as ‘unfit for purpose’. If my/our project proposal is categorised as ‘B’ it cannot be accepted until it has been presented to the School Ethics committee and approved by them. Signed: Dated: Staff Declaration: Insert ‘X’ as appropriate Signed and Dated I confirm that the student has (students have) given due care and attention to the ethical consideration of the project proposal and this can now be marked according to the marking criteria adopted by the module. I confirm that this project proposal has been classified as Category B and thus must be forwarded to the School Ethics Committee for approval. This research proposal has been given a ‘fail’ grade as it has not given due consideration to ethical considerations. .