Hello UK Cavers,
My name is Aaron Bird. I'm a US-based caver and an Assistant Professor at a Midwestern university in Michigan. For the past year, I have been researching caving skills training. You may have seen my questionnaires on close calls (near misses) and perceptions about training come across the UK Caving forum. Many responses were received from UK cavers on both of the above topics and I'm very thankful for your responses, as well as for your candid comments.
The next, and final, stage of the research is to conduct email interviews with cavers who are experienced with caving skills training. Considering there are so many responses from UK cavers on the questionnaires, I am hoping that some in UK would also be interested in participating in the interview portion of this research project.
The procedure for the interviews is to first review a consent form, decide if you wish to participate, and then indicate such by returning the consent form to with your name or a pseudonym. After the return of the signed consent form, then I will send the interview questions. The reason for this approach is that I am required to follow US and international laws regarding research on people in order to protect all research participants from any adverse impacts. The consent form provides detail on the risks that may be present, as well as provides information on how participants' responses would be used.
The specific recruitment language is as follows:
"You are being asked by the Safety and Techniques Committee of the National Speleological Society and researchers at Oakland University to participate in a research study to determine the value of formal cave-skills training programs. If you are interested in participating, we would like to schedule an interview with you to receive your feedback on your impressions of cave-related training. At that time, we will provide you with a consent form describing the research project. After reading the consent form and asking any questions, you may elect to proceed with the interview or to not proceed."
Again, interviews would take place by email. Participation in the research is purely voluntary.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
thank you,
Aaron Bird
wvcaveman@gmail.com
bird2@oakland.edu
My name is Aaron Bird. I'm a US-based caver and an Assistant Professor at a Midwestern university in Michigan. For the past year, I have been researching caving skills training. You may have seen my questionnaires on close calls (near misses) and perceptions about training come across the UK Caving forum. Many responses were received from UK cavers on both of the above topics and I'm very thankful for your responses, as well as for your candid comments.
The next, and final, stage of the research is to conduct email interviews with cavers who are experienced with caving skills training. Considering there are so many responses from UK cavers on the questionnaires, I am hoping that some in UK would also be interested in participating in the interview portion of this research project.
The procedure for the interviews is to first review a consent form, decide if you wish to participate, and then indicate such by returning the consent form to with your name or a pseudonym. After the return of the signed consent form, then I will send the interview questions. The reason for this approach is that I am required to follow US and international laws regarding research on people in order to protect all research participants from any adverse impacts. The consent form provides detail on the risks that may be present, as well as provides information on how participants' responses would be used.
The specific recruitment language is as follows:
"You are being asked by the Safety and Techniques Committee of the National Speleological Society and researchers at Oakland University to participate in a research study to determine the value of formal cave-skills training programs. If you are interested in participating, we would like to schedule an interview with you to receive your feedback on your impressions of cave-related training. At that time, we will provide you with a consent form describing the research project. After reading the consent form and asking any questions, you may elect to proceed with the interview or to not proceed."
Again, interviews would take place by email. Participation in the research is purely voluntary.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
thank you,
Aaron Bird
wvcaveman@gmail.com
bird2@oakland.edu