UWC Research Project: A Qualitative Analysis of Online, Telephone, and Face-to-Face Thesis/Dissertation Writing Tutorials

You may be asked to participate in a research project about writing center discourse that is currently being conducted by Dr. Beth Rapp Young, an Associate Professor of English here at UCF. For this research, Dr. Young will use recordings of (UWC) consultations and other UWC records to investigate such questions as, "What do writing consultants do or say during a consultation that helps writers?" "How do writing consultants adapt their discourse to meet the needs of writers?" and "How does writing consultant talk online differ from telephone or face-to-face talk?" The grant that funds this research is providing the resources for the UWC to offer online and telephone services to thesis and dissertation writers at UCF.

If you agree to participate, a recording will be made of your consultation. If your consultation takes place in a consultation room, it will be recorded by the WebCT chat tool. If your consultation takes place by phone or in person, an audiorecording will be made and professionally transcribed. Audiotapes will be destroyed after transcription. Transcripts will be matched with your Record of Consultation and your Consultation Evaluation survey (if you choose to complete it). Dr. Young will keep these records in a locked cabinet or office where only she can access them. All identifying information will be removed before any analysis takes place.

Participation will not require any extra time or effort from you beyond using the UWC services. The study has no known risks. Most data published will reflect the group of participants as a whole. If any individual utterances are quoted as examples in a conference presentation or in a research paper, these quotations will not identify you in any way.

If you participate, you will have the option to withdraw your participation at any time. Your decision to participate, not participate, or withdraw participation will not affect any grade you receive at UCF or the assistance you will receive from the University Writing Center.

If you have any comments or questions about this study, you may contact Dr. Young at 407-823-2853 or byoung@mail.ucf.edu for more information.