The results of this study will inform how we can help people cope following a tragedy such as the mass shooting. In addition, you have the option of receiving compensation for your time and efforts in completing the online survey.
Northern Illinois University Trauma Study Frequently Asked Questions
No – you are irreplaceable. Because of the information that you provided before the mass shooting at NIU, no one can take your place in the study.
Not at all. Please mail it back. I would be very happy to have it! Contact me with any questions.
With the information provided, we analyze the results using statistical programs and find trends and patterns across the participants in the study. We then report these results and try to use them to better understand people’s reactions to tragedies such as the one that occurred on the NIU campus. Your results will always remain confidential, and your name, information and answers will not be published or available to anyone other than the researchers working on the study. If you are interested in looking at some results of this study, see study findings.***
You may have the option of receiving monetary compensation. Also, please know that by participating, you are greatly helping psychologists understand traumatic events and how they impact people. Additionally, the results of this study will likely be used to understand future tragedies on campuses like NIU in order to help their students cope with traumatic events.
Female undergraduates at NIU who participated in the LEAP study (between 8/06 and 2/08) for “points” while taking Psyc 102.
No, not unless they participated in the LEAP study and already completed the first online survey that occurred right after the mass shooting.
Information on your rights as a research participant is at the Office of Research Compliance, Integrity and Safety or by contacting Professor Holly Orcutt at 815-753-0372.
Funds are distributed through the accounting department at NIU. Therefore, it sometimes takes three to four weeks to receive your check. You will receive a check from Northern Illinois University to the address you specify in the online survey. The check will be an official NIU check and may indicate “NIU Trauma Study” somewhere on the check itself (or it may not).
Occasionally we have a follow-up study based on the response to the online survey – participants are contacted (or not contacted) based on the criteria for that particular study. All participants are asked to complete the online survey but there may sometimes be additional studies that you may or may not have the option to participate in.
Following people over time, also called “longitudinal research”, provides us with the opportunity to not only look at how people feel at one point in time, but at different times in their lives and allows us to see how their feelings and experiences can change. For example, you may have felt really strongly about something when you were younger, but you have since changed your opinion. By looking only at your answer to a question back then, someone would not really understand your feelings now. Similarly, it is equally interesting if people’s experiences and feelings remain the same over a period of time. Looking at experiences over time helps us to better understand people’s experiences and how they have affected them over time.
Contact Professor Orcutt at horcutt@niu.edu or 815-753-0372.
