Master's Research: Consent Form for Business Loyalty Scheme Interviews

This document provides a comprehensive guide and template for obtaining informed consent from participants in business research interviews. It includes a participant information sheet detailing the research purpose, procedures, and participant rights, emphasizing confidentiality and the option to withdraw. The template also outlines the interview process, including recording and transcription, ensuring participants understand how their data will be used. The consent form confirms the participant's understanding of the study, their agreement to participate, and their rights regarding data usage and recording. This resource is particularly useful for students conducting research on business loyalty schemes or any study requiring participant interviews, ensuring ethical research practices and data privacy.

Guidance note and template for securing informed consent for interviews
If you need to carry out interviews for your dissertation research, it is essential that the
interviewee understands exactly how the information provided will be used and that you
obtain their full and informed consent to being interviewed.
You must secure evidence of that informed consent by asking interviewees to sign a consent
form.
A template information sheet and consent form is provided below; you can edit these
according to the particular circumstances of your research.
If you have any questions about the process, please consult your supervisor.

Participant information sheet
Dear ………………..., [insert name of participant]
You are invited to take part in a study that is being conducted for a research project as part
of the Master’s degree in [insert programme of study) at Queen Mary University of London.
The purpose of the research is to assess the motivation and expectation behind loyalty
schemes for business to attract customers in long run. Along with this another
purpose of this research is to analyse nature of customers decision making over
particular brand loyalty scheme over others. [insert brief summary of research]
The interview will take roughly …58 days or 8 weeks….…[insert time] minutes and can be
held at a time and place that is convenient for you.
If you decide to take part in the study, you will be asked a series of questions, however, you
do not have to answer any question if you do not wish to and you are able to withdraw from
the study at any time. Prior to the interview you will be asked to sign a consent form that
outlines more about your rights during the project and guarantees confidentiality of your
information. The interview will be recorded and will later be transcribed. This will enable me
to capture what is said in the interview without being distracted by the need to take notes.
However, you can ask not to have your interview recorded or ask to have the recording
device stopped at any time during the interview. Your transcribed interview will be kept for
12 months in a secure place and then destroyed.
Once all interviews have been conducted, a transcription / detailed notes will be analysed
and examined in an anonymised form, and compared with information from other
interviewees. No information that could identify you as an individual will be used in writing
up the research.
The research will be written up in the form of a dissertation to be submitted as a requirement
for my MSc degree. Although the dissertation itself is not published, academic publications
based on this work may also be developed. These too will be anonymised, both with respect
to individual interviewees and their organisations.
A copy of the transcribed interviews and the final dissertation can be made available to you
on request.
Kind regards,
[insert your name]

Participant Consent Form
I have read the Information Sheet and have had the details of the study explained to me. My
questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I understand that I may ask further
questions at any time.
I understand I have the right to withdraw from the study at any time and to decline to answer
any particular questions.
I agree to provide information to the researcher(s) on the understanding that my name will
not be used without my permission (The information will be used only for this research and
publications arising from this research project.)
I understand that I have the right to ask for the recording device to be turned off at any time
during the interview.
Please tick:
I agree to the interview being recorded. ✔
I do not agree to the interview being recorded.
I agree to participate in this study under the conditions set out in the Information Sheet.
Name of Participant Date Signature