Interested in participating? Get in touch!
Information sheet
Information on the team
The research that you are being invited to participate in is part of a wider project being conducted by a team of three social researchers (see About the project) working in field sites across England (Northeast, the East Midlands and the Southwest). In addition to this social research, we are also working with a team of media analysis scholars who are able to track media stories on a large scale across newspapers, radio, television broadcasts and social media. All academics involved in the project are either employed by the University of Exeter or Newcastle University.
Information on the purpose of this research
We want to understand people’s views on and experiences of Brexit. For example, we are interested in how people’s views on and experiences of immigration inform their views on Brexit. We would like to situate these views within people’s diverse senses of belonging to their local place, community, family, the nation and Europe. We also want to better understand the role of the media (e.g. newspaper, radio, social media) in the formation of people’s attitudes and experiences on these issues.
We want to speak with and hear from as wide a range of participants as possible. We are interested in hearing about all people’s attitudes about and experiences of Brexit across a wide spectrum of ethnic, national, religious, class, gender and generational identities.
What does your participation entail?
Participation involves taking part in an in-depth interview with the researcher (further details below). It might also involve casual conversation with the researcher, and with your permission her/his participation in an activity or event that you might organise or be involved in. We may also explore with you your on-line use of Facebook or Twitter to discuss the extent to which this shapes your views. Towards the end of fieldwork in your area, we will invite you to give your feedback on our preliminary findings at a research participant workshop to be held locally.
What will the interviews entail?
The interviews are aimed at collecting your perspectives, experiences and ideas about Brexit. We will ask you questions on the following themes: your views on and experiences of Brexit; your views on immigration; your experiences of the media; how your sense of living in the place that you do shapes your view on Brexit; and what your views are on national identity and Europe more generally. Where possible we would like to interview members of the same family, across generations, and friends to explore and understand how people share similar and different views on these themes. Interview times and locations will be arranged beforehand. Most of the interview questions will not be pre-determined, as the interviews will be more conversational in nature. With your permission, we would like to record these interviews. If you agree to take part in an interview, you will be asked to sign a consent form to confirm your willingness to take part. We may ask you if you would be willing to participate in more than one interview or follow-up interviews during the project. Consent will be sought each time a recorded interview takes place.
Are there any risks or benefits involved?
There are no anticipated physical or psychological risks associated with taking part in this research. We hope that the data from this research will give interested parties in public life, academia, industry and policy a deeper insight into some of the meanings, practices and issues involved in debates and lived experiences of Brexit Britain.
What if I decide I no longer want to take part?
You can stop taking part in the research at any time during the study. You will not be questioned on why you no longer want to take part.
What if I change my mind about taking part?
If you change your mind, you can withdraw from the study at any time. The research team will keep the data already collected up to that point in an anonymised form unless you request that it be destroyed. You do not have to provide a reason for withdrawing from the research.
Research funding and ethics
This research is funded by ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council). This study has been ethically approved by the University of Exeter, College of Social Science and International Studies Ethics Committee.
What will happen to the information/data that collected?
All information that the researchers collect will be anonymised (i.e., no names or any other personally identifiable data will be recorded unless the research participant requests otherwise). Data from observations will be in the form of fieldnotes compiled by the researcher. For data collected through interviews, a digital recording device will be used to audio-record the interviews (provided consent is given), and the contents of the recording will be transcribed after the interview (typed up by a trusted source to provide a detailed and accurate written record). All names and any other personally identifiable information will not be included in the transcription or any written report that results from the research.
All data will be stored in line with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). The data collected by the researcher will be anonymised and then made available to those working on Identity, Belonging, and the Role of the Media in Brexit Britain research team. The anonymised data from the interview in transcript form will be available to registered users on a publically accessible and usable digital repository, which is a requirement of the project’s funding. The original recordings will be kept securely by the researcher for five years on encrypted and secure university computer and then will be destroyed. We will keep the original data for this amount of time to allow us to work with the material and publish from it.
The data collected for this study will be analysed and used by the researchers to disseminate research findings, i.e., at conferences and seminars, in written reports to be presented to the funding body, in academic journal articles, and in other outputs associated with the research findings. We may use some direct quotes from your interview in academic papers and presentations, but any quotes used will be anonymised (pseudonyms will be given).