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Required documents

Depending on what you are using the labs for, you may need to complete documentation for the following topics:

Data Protection

You will need to complete a data protection questionnaire to comply with Data Protection legislation. OU staff can find this here: http://intranet6.open.ac.uk/governance/data-protection/ou-data-protection-procedures:

Research involving students

If your research involves contacting OU students you need to contact the Student Research Project Panel (SRPP). All projects which involve the collection of data information from samples of enquirers, students or graduates need to apply to the Panel for authorisation. Applicants are required to complete an application form in order for their project to be considered. Please contact SRPP@open.ac.uk for details.

Ethical research

Your study might require Ethical Approval from the OU Ethics Committee. It is your responsibility to ensure that you check what approval is required. See http://www.open.ac.uk/research/ethics/index.shtml for further information.

Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)

If your research involves school children, you will need to ensure that all researchers are Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checked http://www.crb.homeoffice.gov.uk/.

Consent and privacy

When you invite people to participate in your study, you will need to inform them of their right to privacy and to gain their consent to be recorded so that you can use the data in your research. Your consent form needs to include the following:

  • Name of the study/project
  • The Person’s name
  • The Person’s contact details
  • If it is an OU student, their Personal Identifier
  • A paragraph about what they are consenting to do, including being video recorded and briefly explaining the purpose of the project and how their data will be used
  • Data protection information
  • Information on their rights to withdraw from the study at any time
  • Space for their signature
  • Space for the date

Copyright

When recording a podcast or video podcast you may be using material which you have not created, and for this you will need copyright clearance.  Similarly if you are filming third party materials in the Jennie Lee Research Labs as part of your research activity which ultimately may end up being disseminated publicly you will need copyright clearance so that you do not infringe third party intellectual property rights. For advice on rights clearance for any material you use which is not yours, please contact Guy Lavender, Head of Intellectual Property Rights.

The Open University owns the copyright on contributions from OU staff which are considered to be part of their terms and conditions of employment.

Schedule of your lab activity

We request a schedule that will help us to plan the lab activities and resourcing. The schedule should contain:

  1. an accurate date/time of start
  2. expected duration
  3. participant name(s)
  4. any other observers/assistants
  5. whether the reception facilities are required
  6. if there are any planned secondary observers

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