Participant Information
PIS Template 2023v1.0
 

What is the study about?

We invite you to participate in a project that aims to make past individuals, marginalised by historiographical and archaeological narratives, visible by revisiting impairment and disability within select contexts from Late Antique to Early Modern Europe. This collaboration pioneers a new approach to understanding the daily lives of people with physical disabilities and healed trauma in premodern Europe by bringing together historians, archaeologists, archaeological scientists, forensic imaging experts, and orthopaedists specialising in the biomechanics of skeletal impairment and healed trauma. We are seeking feedback on the impact of digital and narrative forms of representation of the lives of specific individuals who have been determined to have physical impairments in the course of the excavation of human remains in sites that date from Late Antiquity to the Early Modern period in Europe. 

Why have I been invited to take part? 

 

We are asking you to participate in this questionnaire because you have been a visitor to our exhibit, History in our Bones, at the St Andrews Wardlaw Museum.

 

Do I have to take part?

This information sheet has been written to help you decide if you would like to take part. It is up to you and you alone whether you wish to take part. If you do decide to take part you will be free to withdraw at any time without providing a reason and with no negative consequences.

 

What would I be required to do?

We will ask for your feedback on digital and fictive/narrative reconstructions related to specific individuals whose skeletons have been preserved and who display evidence of impairment (either congenital or stemming from illness or trauma. 

 

Are there any risks associated with taking part?

Some individuals may have a strong emotional response toimages of human remains during our discussions. If you feel emotional distress or re-traumatisation, we will provide you with a quiet space to decompress, either on your own or with the support of project staff.  

Are there any benefits associated with taking part?

By taking part in the study, you will have a voice in contemporary efforts to build empathy and understanding with individuals with disabilities in the historic path, potentially contributing to the wellbeing and inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the present. Your experiences and reactions to our research matter!

 

Informed consent

It is important that you can give your informed consent before taking part in this study. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about the research before you provide your consent.

 

This project is currently subject to funding from the AHRC, and we are currently preparing bids for a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award and a Horizon Europe Synergy Grant.

 

What information about me or recordings of me (‘my data’) will you be collecting?

All responses to the online questionnaire are anonymous and completely confidential.

 

Terms used to describe your data

We will gather and store the following data:

• Anonymised - means that parts of your data will be edited or deleted such that no-one, including the researchers, could use any reasonably available means to identify you from the data.  

 

How will my data be stored and who will have access to it? 

o   Your data collected via the online questionnaire will be stored in an anonymised form. Your data will be stored on a secure drive managed by the University of St Andrews.

How will my data be used and in what form will it be shared further?

Your data will appear aggregated with data from all other respondents. 

 

When will my data be destroyed?

Because all data is anonymous, we are not able to delete your responses, as will not be able to identify them. 

 

Will my participation be confidential?

Online questionnaire data is fully anonymized and thus completely confidential. 

 

Use of your personal data for research and your data protection rights

The University of St Andrews (the ‘Data Controller’) is bound by the UK 2018 Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which require a lawful basis for all processing of personal data (in this case it is the ‘performance of a task carried out in the public interest’ – namely, for research purposes) and an additional lawful basis for processing personal data containing special characteristics (in this case it is ‘public interest research’). You have a range of rights under data protection legislation. For more information on data protection legislation and your rights visit https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/terms/data-protection/rights/. For any queries, email dataprot@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Withdrawing your data

 

As your data are anonymised, we will not be able to withdraw it, because we will not know which data is yours.

Ethics review

 

This research proposal has been scrutinised and subsequently granted ethical approval by the University of St Andrews Teaching and Research Ethics Committee. 

 

Where can I find out about the results of the study?

If you would like to receive a report of the results of the study, please email aib4@st-andrews.edu and we will add your name to our results mailing list. 

What should I do if I have concerns about this study?

 

In the first instance, you are encouraged to raise your concerns with the researcher. However, if you do not feel comfortable doing so, then you should contact the School Ethics Contact (contact details below). A full outline of the procedures governed by the University Teaching and Research Ethics Committee is available at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/research/integrity-ethics/humans/ethical-guidance/complaints/.

Contact details

 

Researcher

Alison I. Beach

aib4@st-andrews.ac.uk 

44 (0)7951484169

 

School ethics contact

Bill Jenkins

whwj@st-andrews.ac.uk

44 (0)1334 462885