How the study is carried out
To carry out the research, I will spend a total of six months at your school in the spring of 2027. I will “hang out” in the corridors and cafeteria, in the students’ break rooms and work halls. You can decide when and how to approach me. I will also conduct interviews at the school, and you can participate in them alone or together with friends.
During my research, I observe the educational environment and write notes about my observations in a field diary. Among other things, I write down what I have discussed with you during the day and what kind of conversations you have had with other young people related to the research topic when I am present. I do not record any discussions that are not related to the topic, and you can also deny this.
I also write about how you or other young people approach me, how you feel about my presence at the school, and how you feel about my research.
I do not write unnecessary information about you in the field diary, i.e. information that is not related to my research or that is harmful to you.
If you do not want me to observe you, please contact me.
In addition, you have an opportunity to think with me what constitutes good youth research: what do you think about my presence at your school, what do you think about youth research, and how do you think research aimed at young people should be developed.
Regarding this, I will carry out workshops at your school. You can also participate in writing research publications or communicating about research: how young people should be studied. If you are interested in this, please contact me.
Your rights as a research participant
Participation in the study is always voluntary. It is up to you to decide whether or not to approach me and whether you want to participate in the study. You can leave or discontinue your participation at any time without notice. There will be no consequences for you.
You can decide for yourself how to participate in study. You can just observe and listen if it feels more comfortable. You can participate in a research interview if you prefer to talk to me alone rather than in a group, or if you want to tell me more about something.
Participation in the study is confidential and you may participate without giving your name. I try to report my research in a way that makes it impossible to identify you. This means, among other things, that I do not say where the research was carried out or who has participated in it.
The only exception is if you participate in writing or communicating about what “good” research is. We will consider together whether identifying it is more beneficial or harmful for you.
The purpose of the study is not to evaluate or criticize you. Participating in the study will not adversely affect your studies. There are no right and wrong ideas, and the study must not cause you any harm.
Please let me know if there is something that worries you or if you would like something not to be discussed as part of the study. You can also ask the staff of the school or your friends to tell me.
Keeping your information safe
I have a duty to handle the information you provide carefully and keep it safe. I will process the information you provide confidentially as required by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the Finnish Data Protection Act.
The research material includes the researcher’s field diary as well as research interviews and their recordings, which I record for research purposes while I am at your school. I will only record conversations if you participate in the research interview. You can also refuse to be recorded.
The research data (i.e. the information you provide) is stored on a password-protected server at the University of Tampere that requires two-factor authentication. Only me can access them. An exception to this is interview recordings, which are processed by a service provider outside the university when they are transcribed into text format and the university has a valid non-disclosure agreement with them.
The data collected in connection with the research will be stored at the Tampere University for one year after the publication of the last results of the study and will be destroyed by 31 December 2031 at the latest.
After the research, I will publish the research interviews anonymously in the Finnish Social Science Data Archive, if you give me your permission. All identifiers that can be used to determine who participated in the study (i.e. names and places, but also other things that can be used to identify you) have been removed from this data.
Read more about data protection and your rights regarding personal data: Privacy Notice