PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET
STUDY BACKGROUND
You are being asked to take part in a research study on the impact of anxiety, confidence, personality and course of study on career decision making which is led by Niharika Sharma and supervised by Dr Samantha Jordan in the College of Psychology at Birmingham City University. The project has been approved by the Psychology Research Ethics Committee.
WHAT WILL YOU NEED TO DO?
In this study, you will be asked to access the study through a link or QR code that directs them to QuestionPro, where they will first read an information sheet explaining the purpose of the research, their rights, and how their anonymous data will be used. After providing informed consent, they will answer brief demographic questions (e.g., age, gender, course of study) before completing several standard psychological scales. These include the 25-item Career-Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (e.g., “How confident are you in gathering information about careers that interest you?”), rated from “not confident at all” to “completely confident”; the SICKS scale measuring confidence in skills such as communication and critical thinking (e.g., “How confident are you in presenting information clearly?”), rated on a 1–5 scale; the 12-item Career Anxiety Scale (e.g., “I feel nervous when thinking about my future career plans”), rated from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”; and the short 10-item Big Five Inventory assessing personality traits (e.g., “I see myself as someone who is outgoing and sociable”), rated on a 1–5 scale. The study takes around 30 minutes, after which participants will receive a debrief.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PART?
To take part in this study participants must be at least 18 years old and be in their final year of university. I discourage those who may find the topic areas of anxiety, confidence, personality and career decision making harmful or sensitive from taking part.
HOW LONG WILL THE STUDY LAST?
On average, this study takes 30 minutes.
ARE THERE ANY RISKS OF TAKING PART?
There are no physical risks involved in this study, however there is a possibility of participants incurring psychological harm from the topic evolved such as anxiety and career decision making. Participants are however, allowed to withdraw from the study if they face any distress.
WHO TO CONTACT IF YOU ARE AFFECTED BY THE TOPIC OR CONTENT OF THIS STUDY
Mind
This service provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem, you can contact them 24/7.
Website: https://www.mind.org.uk/
Helpline: 0300 123 3393
Shout
Shout is a free, confidential and 24/7 text messaging service for anyone in the UK who needs support. TEXT: 85258 Website: https://giveusashout.org/
BCU Mental Health and Wellbeing Team
For BCU Students, you can access support from the BCU Mental Health and Wellbeing Team at any time
Website: https://icity.bcu.ac.uk/student-affairs/health-and-wellbeing/mental-health-and-wellbeing.
Helpline: 0121 331 5188
ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS OF TAKING PART?
Although there are no direct benefits from taking part to you at this point, your participation in this study will contribute to understanding of the research topic relating to anxiety and career decision making in psychology.
YOUR RIGHT TO CONFIDENTIALITY/ANONYMITY
The study will not involve the collection of any personal information about you except age and gender.
No other identifiable information will be collected or stored. Your data will be stored using an anonymous ID code. You will be given instructions on how to create this at the beginning of the study.
All data will be stored in accordance with the University’s Data Protection Policy. Data will be anonymised and will be shared between the primary researcher and the supervisor, and may be subjected to audit and verification processes, but it will not be possible to identify your data at any point. The data will be kept until the degree classification has been awarded, after which point it will be stored securely for 10 years for potential publication purposes.
YOUR RIGHT TO WITHDRAW AND WITHHOLD INFORMATION
In line with the regulations outlined by the British Psychological Society, you have the right to withdraw from this research study at any time without explanation.
DURING THE STUDY
While you are taking part in the study, you have the right to omit or refuse to answer or respond to any question that is asked of you. You can also stop taking part in the study while taking part by closing the tab or browser.
AFTER THE STUDY
If you have already completed the study, you can contact the primary researcher or their supervisor using the email address below, requesting your data to be withdrawn. Please provide your anonymous ID code that you created at the start of the study in the email to withdraw your data. You can have your data withdrawn until 10/03/2026 ,then your data will have been analysed and written up.
WHO IS ORGANISING THE RESEARCH?
You can contact the primary researcher by email at Niharika.sharma@mail.bcu.ac.uk or their supervisor ,Dr Samantha Jordan by email at samantha.jordan
@bcu.ac.uk if you require further information or wish to exercise your right to withdraw.
If you are unhappy at any point in the study, or if there is a problem, please contact the Psychology College Research Ethics Committee directly at
psychethics@bcu.ac.uk.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about how we use or handle your information please contact the Data Protection Officer at: Data Protection Officer, Information Management Team, Birmingham City University, University House, 15 Bartholomew Row, Birmingham B5 5JU, email
informationmanagement@bcu.ac.uk or call +44 (0) 121 331 5288.
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