Homework answers / question archive / Study Title: Exploring beliefs about significant world events Module Tutor: Student’s number: [INSERT YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL HERE] Participant Information Sheet What is the purpose of the study? This study is being carried out as part of the coursework for the MSc Psychology Psychological Research Experience module

Study Title: Exploring beliefs about significant world events Module Tutor: Student’s number: [INSERT YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL HERE] Participant Information Sheet What is the purpose of the study? This study is being carried out as part of the coursework for the MSc Psychology Psychological Research Experience module

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Study Title: Exploring beliefs about significant world events Module Tutor: Student’s number: [INSERT YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL HERE] Participant Information Sheet What is the purpose of the study? This study is being carried out as part of the coursework for the MSc Psychology Psychological Research Experience module. We are asking you to take part in a study lasting less than ten minutes. The study will involve answering some questions about yourself and significant world events. Why have I been invited? You have been invited to take part because you are either a current MSc Psychology student at Northumbria University, or you are a friend or family member of an MSc Psychology student at Northumbria University. You are 18 years of age or older. Do I have to take part? Taking part in this study is entirely up to you. Before you decide if you would like to take part, it is essential for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. You have the right to choose if you would like to take part. If, for any reason, you wish to withdraw your information from the study, please contact the researcher (who you should know personally) within 1 week of participating. What will happen if I take part? You will be asked to complete three questionnaires and provide demographic information (gender and age). Two questionnaires will ask about psychological awareness, and the final questionnaire will ask about your beliefs about significant world events. What are the possible benefits of taking part? Participation in this study will have no direct benefit to you. This study is being undertaken as part of an MSc Psychology Programme, and assists with student training. What are the possible disadvantages of taking part? It is unlikely that you will be upset by anything during the study. However, if this happens, you might like to take a break, or if you prefer, you can decide to end your participation and withdraw from the study at that point. Will my taking part in this study be kept confidential and anonymous? The information obtained will be treated with the strictest confidence throughout the study. All data will be kept anonymous (i.e., no identifiable information will be taken). The data will be combined with other participants, where trends will be analyses as part of a classroom project at Northumbria University. The trends will be written into a report and submitted as part of coursework, but will not be published elsewhere. 1 INFORMED CONSENT FORM Study Title: Exploring beliefs about significant world events Module Tutor: Student’s number: [INSERT YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL HERE] please tick or initial where applicable I have carefully read and understood the Participant Information Sheet. I have had an opportunity to ask questions and discuss this study and I have received satisfactory answers. I understand I am free to withdraw from the study at any time, without having to give a reason for withdrawing, and without prejudice. I agree to take part in this study, which forms coursework on the MSc Psychology programme. Signature of participant (typed) ....................................................... Date.....……………….. Please turn the page. 2 Demographic Information Firstly can you provide a unique participant identification number relating to the first three characters of your place of birth, plus with your month of birth (e.g., if you were born in Birmingham and your month of birth is May, your unique participant identification number would be bir05). Unique participant identification code: Please answer the following questions. Gender (put an ‘x’ in the box): Male (1) Female (2) Transgender (3) Other (4) Rather not say (5) Age (years): Please turn the page. 3 Please now complete the following questions. Read each statement carefully and decide what extent you agree and disagree with it. Place a cross (x) in the column that corresponds to this judgement, on a scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). Question 1 strongly agree Strongly disagree Answer each question thinking how you have felt in the last few hours: 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. I experienced myself as separate from my changing thoughts and feelings. 2. I was more concerned with being open to my experiences than controlling or changing them. 3. I was curious about what I might learn about myself by taking notice of how I react to certain thoughts, feelings or sensations. 4. I experienced my thoughts more as events in my mind than as a necessarily accurate reflection of the way things ‘really’ are. 5. I was curious to see what my mind was up to from moment to moment. 6. I was curious about each of the thoughts and feelings that I was having. 7. I was receptive to observing unpleasant thoughts and feelings without interfering with them. 4 8. I was more invested in just watching my experiences as they arose, than in figuring out what they could mean. 9. I approached each experience by trying to accept it, no matter whether it was pleasant or unpleasant. 10. I remained curious about the nature of each experience as it arose. 11. I was aware of my thoughts and feelings without over-identifying with them. 12. I was curious about my reactions to things. 13. I was curious about what I might learn about myself by just taking notice of what my attention gets drawn to. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 strongly agree Strongly disagree Question Please turn the page. 5 Please now complete the following questions. Read each statement carefully and decide what extent you agree and disagree with it. Place a cross (x) in the column that corresponds to this judgement, on a scale from strongly agree (1) to strongly disagree (7). Take care with the anchors, as they may have changed position. strongly agree Strongly disagree Answer each question thinking how you have felt in general: Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. I could be experiencing some emotion and not be conscious of it until sometime later. 2. I break or spill things because of carelessness, not paying attention, or thinking of something else. I find it difficult to stay focused on what’s happening in the present. 3. I tend to walk quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way. 4. I tend not to notice feelings of physical tension or discomfort until they really grab my attention. 5. I forget a person’s name almost as soon as I’ve been told it for the first time. 6. It seems I am “running on automatic” without much awareness of what I’m doing. 7. I rush through activities without being really attentive to them. 6 8. I get so focused on the goal I want to achieve that I lose touch with what I am doing right now to get there. 9. I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I’m doing. 10. I find myself listening to someone with one ear, doing something else at the same time. 11. I drive places on “automatic pilot” and then wonder why I went there. 12. I find myself preoccupied with the future or the past. 13. I find myself doing things without paying attention. 14. I snack without being aware that I’m eating. 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly disagree 1 strongly agree Question Please turn the page. 7 Please now complete the following questions. Read each statement carefully place a cross (x) in the column that corresponds to this judgement, on a scale from definitely not true (1) to definitely true (7). Question 1 definitely true definitely not true Take care with the anchors, as they may have changed. 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. The government is involved in the murder of innocent citizens and/or well-known public figures and keeps this a secret. 2. The power held by heads of state is second to that of small, unknown groups who really control world politics. 3. Secret organizations communicate with terrorists but keep this fact from the public. 4. The spread of certain viruses and/or diseases is the result of the deliberate, concealed efforts of some terrorists/organizations. 5. The government manipulate, fabricate, or suppress evidence in order to deceive the public. 6. The government permits or perpetrates acts of terrorism on its own soil, disguising its involvement. 7. A small, secret group of people is responsible for making all major world decisions, such as going to war. 8 8. Evidence of assassinations is being concealed from the public. 9. Technology with mind-control capacities is used on people without their knowledge. 10. New and advanced technology which would harm current industry is being suppressed. 11. The government uses people as patsies to hide its involvement in criminal activity. 12. Certain significant events have been the result of the activity of a small group who secretly manipulate world events. 13. Some UFO sightings and rumours are planned or staged in order to distract the public from real alien contact. 14. Experiments involving new drugs or technologies are routinely carried out on the public without their knowledge or consent. 15. A lot of important information is deliberately concealed from the public out of self-interest. 2 3 4 5 6 7 definitely true 1 definitely not true Question 9 10