Consent of the participant

You are invited to participate in a research study entitled:
The level of trust on posts about the COVID-19 vaccine in social media.

Student Researcher(s):
Asaf Neisi Minaei, Graduate student, Department of Computer Science, University of Saskatchewan, email: asn586@usask.ca

Principal Investigator/Supervisor:
Julita Vassileva, Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Saskatchewan, telephone: (306) 966-2073, email: jiv@cs.usask.ca

Purpose and Objective of the Research:
Social networking sites (SNS) have been used to spread misinformation on many topics. In this study, we try to find an effective way to show the user how trustworthy the accounts sharing SNS posts are. Making the user aware of the trustworthiness of the accounts can potentially mitigate the negative effects of online misinformation, especially regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
Procedures:
● This study will take about 45 minutes to complete
● An online experimental platform is implemented to conduct this study


Steps to follow:
1. Please read the consent form, and if you decide to participate in the study, click on the “Next” button.
2. Please read the instructions about performing this study’s tasks and what information you need to know,
3. You will be asked to perform the tasks,
4. You will be asked to take a short break, please, take a 5-minute break,
5. Continue to perform the tasks,
6. You will be asked to fill the final questionnaire,
7. Follow up and briefing; you can send your questions and concerns via provided emails to the researchers as well.
*-NOTE: You will be shown some social media accounts and asked some questions about them. There is no need for you to search about them online. You should respond Solely based on information provided by this questionnaire.
Potential Risks:
● There are no known or anticipated risks to you by participating in this research.

Confidentiality:
●The data will be completely anonymized and reported in aggregated form, making it impossible to identify any individual.

Storage of Data:
● The data will be stored on a password-protected computer during the analysis and after that on a password-protected University cloud drive.
● The data will be stored for 5 years post-publication as per the University of Saskatchewan Guidelines. After that, it will be safely deleted from the storage drive and UofS OneDrive cloud storage system that it was stored on.

Right to Withdraw:
● Participation in this survey is voluntary. You have the right to withdraw at any time while completing steps 1-7 above. You can stop your participation by just closing the webpage of the study. At the end of the study, the survey will ask for your consent for the entered data to be saved. If you do not consent, the data will be deleted.
● Your right to withdraw data from the study remains valid until the data analysis phase. After this, the data will be aggregated, and it will not be possible to identify your data to remove it.

Follow up:
● To obtain results from the study, don't hesitate to get in touch with the researchers.
● The result of this study will also be published in the form of articles or a thesis.

Questions or Concerns:
● Contact the researcher(s) using the information at the top of the page.
● This research project has been approved on ethical grounds by the University of Saskatchewan Behavioural Research Ethics Board. Any questions regarding your rights as a participant may be addressed to that committee through the Research Ethics Office: ethics.office@usask.ca; 306-966-2975; out of town participants may call toll-free 1-888-966-2975.

The Consent Procedure:
By completing and submitting this questionnaire, your free and informed consent is implied and indicates that you understand the above conditions of participation in this study.

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