Participant Information Sheet for Interview
Name of department: Education (School of Humanities and Social Sciences)
Title of the study: Theyby Parent Pedagogy: An Exploration of Teaching and Learning about Gender in an Online Community
Introduction
The investigation is being conducted by Milo Chesnut as part of their PhD research at the University of Strathclyde. Chesnut has been a member of the Parenting Theybies Facebook group since 2018. Please refer to milochesnut.com for more background information on the researcher.
What is the purpose of this research?
The overall aim of this study is to explore the motivations, meanings and experiences of gender open parenting from the parents’ perspectives. The researcher is broadly defining ‘gender open parenting’ and ‘theyby parenting,’ as parents who use they/them/their pronouns with their children from the start, but also plans to explore the language parents use to describe their parenting approach through the research. The investigation aims to understand gender open experiences with schooling, how parents learn about gender open parenting, how they educate others – including their children- about their politics and practices. All participants will be drawn from the Parenting Theybies Facebook Group. The researcher hopes to use the findings of the study to increase awareness of gender open parenting, and support parents and educators of all children who push the expected boundaries of sex and gender, including, but not limited to, transgender and non-binary youth, and theybies.
The study includes several components, including a questionnaire, and interviews. This information sheet is for the interview phase of the study only.
Do you have to take part?
All phases of the study are voluntary, and will require separate consent. For example, if you consented to the questionnaire phase of the study, that does not mean that you’ve consented to be interviewed.
It is entirely your decision to participate in an interview. There are no consequences for refusing to participate or withdrawing your data after participating. You can withdraw from the study at any time, if you do so, then all identifying information will be destroyed by the researcher, unless the data has already been anonymized. The researcher will spend the week after your interview transcribing, so there is a grace period during which your data is in the process of being anonymized, and may be withdrawn.
To recognize the value of your contribution to the investigation, and the importance of continued support of gender open parenting, the researcher will offer an incentive of $20 for each interview, either paid directly to the participant through PayPal, or as a donation to theybyparenting.com at the completion of the study.
You are welcome to ask questions or request access to the data the researcher has collected about you at any time by contacting the researcher at the details below. The researcher will respond as soon as possible.
What will you do in the project?
During the online interview phase of the study, you will have a conversation with the researcher over video chat software, such as Skype Business or Zoom. The researcher will ask a series of questions that are related to the research questions. In particular, the researcher is interested in how you developed your parenting approach, how you are educating others about your parenting practices, and your experiences with schooling your children. All of the questions are open-ended, and include prompts to help guide you. The total interview time will be less than 2 hours. The researcher will be conducting interviews over the course of about 9 months.
Why have you been invited to take part?
For the interview phase of the study, anyone who is a member of the Parenting Theybies Facebook group is invited to participate.
You may have indicated that you were interested in participating in the interview when you filled out the questionnaire, or you may have responded to the researcher’s post. Either way, if you meet the criteria above, you are welcome to participate in the interview. If you have not yet filled out the questionnaire with basic demographic information, the researcher will ask you to do so before the interview. You will be sent a seperate Participant Information Sheet and consent form for the questionnaire.
What are the potential risks to you in taking part?
The researcher does not anticipate any significant risks as a result of participating in the interview phase of the study. If you become distressed or overwhelmed at any point during the interview, you may pause and return to the interview later, or withdraw from the study. The researcher suggests the following resources for parents who become distressed:
https://www.theybyparenting.com/
https://www.genderspectrum.org/
What information is being collected in the project?
As explained above, the researcher will ask you questions in an interview over video chat software, such as Skype Business or Zoom. The questions will focus on your experiences with gender open parenting, especially with regards to educating others. All of the questions will relate to the aims of the study described above.
Who will have access to the information?
Precautions will be taken to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of members of Parenting Theybies throughout the investigation.The researcher has purchased video chat software in order to increase the security of the interview. The interview will be recorded, and then immediately uploaded to a password-protected file on the University of Strathclyde’s institutional server. All digital records of video communication, including audio and video files, will be deleted from the computer or device immediately after uploading. The researcher will transcribe the interviews using pseudonyms, and any potentially identifying details such as age and location will be removed or anonymized. The transcripts will also be stored in a password-protected file on the institutional server, along with any notes taken during or after the interview. Only the researchers named in this information sheet will have access to the password-protected files. The personal identities of participants will be protected in all research documents and publications.
Where will the information be stored and how long will it be kept for?
As explained above, video and audio files, transcripts with pseudonyms, and consent forms will be stored in password-protected folders on the University of Strathclyde’s institutional server. The key to the pseudonymization will be kept separately from other data on an encrypted and password-protected file of an external hard drive. The drive will be stored in a lockable cabinet at the researcher’s place of work. Only the researcher named in this sheet will have access to the cabinet. Data will not be stored in any other location.
All personal data on participants will be processed and stored in accordance with the regulations of the Data Protection Act 1998, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the University of Strathclyde Data Protection Policy. The researcher will destroy all personally identifying data when it is no longer needed for the purposes of this specific study. Anonymous research data may be retained indefinitely in the University Records Centre.
Please also read our Privacy Notice for Research Participants
What happens next?
If you are happy to participate in an interview, you can sign the attached consent form to confirm.
If you do not want to participate in this phase of the study, thank you for your time.
If you are unsure about whether you would like to participate and have further questions, please contact the researcher using the information below.
After completion of the study, you will be offered the opportunity to receive the following electronic documents:
Summary of the investigation findings
The final PhD thesis
You may contact the researcher with any questions after reading the findings. The researcher will notify the group of other publications as necessary.
Thank you for reading this information – please ask any questions if you are unsure about what is written here.
Researcher contact details:
Feel free to reach out with any questions about the study:
Milo ChesnutPostgraduate Student (PhD Education)
Education Department; School of Humanities and Social Sciences
milo.chesnut@strath.ac.uk
PhD Supervisor Details:
If you would like to contact the PhD Supervisor during the study, her information is below:
Professor Yvette Taylor
Education Department; School of Humanities and Social Sciences
+44 (0)141 444 8048
yvette.taylor@strath.ac.uk
Dr Maddie Breeze
Strathclyde Chancellor’s Fellow; Education Department
+44 (0)141 444 8072
maddie.breeze@strath.ac.uk
This research was granted ethical approval by the University of Strathclyde School of Education Ethics Committee.
If you have any questions/concerns, during or after the research, or wish to contact an independent person to whom any questions may be directed or further information may be sought from, please contact:
Chair of the School of Education Ethics Committee
University of Strathclyde
Dr Eugenie A. Samier
Lord Hope Building
141 St James Road
Glasgow
G4 0LT
eugenie.samier@strath.ac.uk