Research Ethics Approval Form for Business Students - [College Name]

This document presents a completed research ethics approval form, crucial for students conducting research involving human participants or their data. The form covers essential sections, including project details, research methods, and participant information. It addresses key ethical considerations such as informed consent, recruitment strategies, data storage, and security measures compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998. The form details participant recruitment through probability sampling of Walmart employees and outlines processes for obtaining consent via written and oral presentations. It also highlights the importance of debriefing participants and providing information about the study findings. The document emphasizes ethical concerns like informed consent, vulnerable participants, sensitive topics, and data security, ensuring awareness of potential risks. Finally, it includes a declaration of adherence to the institution's Research and Ethics Policy, signifying the student's commitment to ethical research practices. This form serves as a guide for students to gain ethical approval before initiating their research projects.

Research Ethics approval form
All students conducting research activity that involves human participants or the use of data
collected form human participants are required to gain ethical approval before commencing their
research. Please answer all relevant questions and note that your form may be returned if
incomplete.
For further support and guidance please see your respective Unit Tutor:
Before completing this form, we advise that you discuss your proposed research fully with your
unit tutor. Please complete this form in good time before your research project is due to
commence.
Section 1: Basic details:
Project title: “An investigation into the impact of total quality management practices on
customer satisfaction and retention
Student name:
Student ID number:
Programme:
College Name:
Intended research start date:
Intended research end date:
Section 2 Project summary
Please select all research methods that you plan to use as a part of your project:
 Interviews Yes No
 Questionnaires Yes No
 Observations Yes No
 Use of personal records Yes No
 Data Analysis Yes No
 Action Research Yes No
 Focus Groups Yes No
 Others (Please specify) :
Section 3: Participants
Please answer the following questions, giving full details where necessary.
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Will your research involve human participants?
Who are the participants? Tick all that apply:
Ages 12-16: Young people aged: 17-18 Adults:
How will participants be recruited (identified an approached)?
There are two essential methods of recruiting participants such as probability and non-
probability. Both are essential methods but for doing present study, probability sampling
will be applied for recruiting 30 employees of Walmart.
Describe the processes you will use to inform participants about what you are doing:
For informing participants about the current research, e-mail, oral and written
presentation as a process will be chosen by researcher.
How will you obtain consent from participants? Will this be written? How will it be made clear
to participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at any time?
In order to obtain consent from selected participants, all information or data regarding the
investigation will be given effectively that in form of written. In this, investigator can easily
withdraw consent to participate at any time.
Studies involving questionnaires: will participants be given the option of omitting questions that
do not wish to answer?
Yes No
If no, please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues arising from this
Studies involving observation: Confirm whether participants will be asked for their informed
consent to be observed.
Yes No
Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation (i.e give them a brief explanation of
the study)?
Yes No
Will participants be given information about the findings of your study? (This could be a brief
summary of your findings in general)
Yes No
Section 4: Data Storage and Security
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Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in compliance with the Data
Protection Act (1998)
Yes No
Who will have access to the data and personal information?
During the research: Researcher
Where will the data be stored?
Data will be stored in mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops
Will mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops be used
Yes No
If Yes, please provide further detail
ls:
After the research: Researcher
Where will the data be stored?
Data will be stored in mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops
How long will the data and records be kept for and in what format?
May be 6 months’ data and records will be kept for and in excel format
Will data be kept for use by other researchers? Yes No
Section 5 : Ethical Issues
Are there any particular features of your proposed work, which may raise ethical concerns? If so,
please outline how you will deal with these:
It is important that you demonstrate your awareness of potential risks that may arise because of
your research. Please consider/address all issues that may apply. Ethical concerns may include,
but are not limited to the following:
 Informed consent.
 Potentially vulnerable participants.
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 Sensitive topics
 Risk to participants and /or researchers
 Confidentiality/anonymity
 Disclosures/ limits to confidentiality
 Data storage and security, both during and after the research (including transfer, sharing,
encryption, protection).
 Reporting
 Dissemination and use of your findings.
Section 6: Declaration
I have read, understood and will abide by the institution’s Research and Ethics Policy:
Yes No
I have discussed the ethical issues relating to my research with my Unit Tutor:
Yes No
I confirm that to the best of my knowledge:
The above information is correct, and this is a full description of the ethical issues that may
arise in the course of my research
Name: Date:
Please submit your completed form to your supervisor and also attach to the Research
Proposal when submitting to Turnitin.
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