We will be collecting data from surveys and recordings of online meetings. We want to clarify the research process so that you know what we are doing and why. Because this data collection process is a bit complicated, we are working with a lead contact on your team. You can also ask him or her questions about the project or contact us.
After completing the Informed Consent Form, you’ll fill out a survey on your general perceptions about your research group and some demographic information about yourself. The demographic information is only used for reporting purposes.
We will record four of your research meetings. Please only use your first name on any identifying information on the videos. We will not analyze any person’s behavior or comments. We will not analyze the content of any discussions. Instead, we are interested in patterns of group member interactions . Virtual meetings are very different from face-to-face ones. We want to see how online research groups engage in project planning, nonverbal communication, turn-taking, and social interactions during their meetings. By being yourself and having a regular meeting, we’ll be able to better understand distributed research teams.
After each meeting, you’ll fill out a survey sharing your perceptions of the research team as well as what happened during the meeting. The last question of that survey will ask you to describe what happened in the meeting. You can write about the meeting in general or specific components. We are not going to analyze the content of what you say. Instead, we’re going to analyze how you describe the meeting.
Finally, between research team meetings, we will send you two surveys. We know that researchers have many different tasks and responsibilities. As a result, we know that researchers have a lot of different identities and roles they have to manage. We also know that when you see the survey reminder, you’re going to think of the project! Therefore, when you answer these questions, we encourage you to think of the last task you were engaged in and how much you were thinking (or not!) about the research group.