The University of Portsmouth and collaborative partners of the project Differing Perceptions of Quality of Learning wish to process your personal/demographic data (that is, collect, use, store and destroy data that identifies you) as part of this project. Before completing the survey or participating in an online focus group, we ask for your consent to process the data we ask for in this project, so that we can conduct the research as described in the participant information page. Personal (demographic) data will only be shared with Melita Sidiropoulou, the main research assistant for this project. Any personal data will be held securely on a password-protected Google folder (University of Portsmouth servers) and on JISC online surveys (the platform for the survey). We will not store any data outside the EU. The raw data will be retained for a minimum of 10 years. When it is no longer required, the data (e.g., electronic media and paper records/images) will be disposed of securely and destroyed.

The data, when made anonymous, may be presented to others at academic conferences, published as a project report, academic dissertation or in academic journals or books. It could also be made available to any commissioner or funder of the research. Anonymous data, which does not identify you, will be publicly shared at the end of the project and made open-access. A licence will be applied to this publicly shared data. This will allow anyone else (including researchers, businesses, governments, charities, and the general public) to use the anonymised data for any purpose they wish, providing they credit the University of Portsmouth and the research team as the original creators. No restrictions will be placed on this shared anonymised data; its reuse will not be limited to only non-commercial ventures.

Although you have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, to restrict the use of your personal data, to be forgotten, to data portability, and to withdraw your consent for the use of your data, it is possible that we may not be able to fully comply with those rights once your data has already been used for the research and/or has been anonymised. As a volunteer you can stop any participation in this project at any time, or withdraw from the study at any time before the end of the focus groups and the analysis process (starting on the 21st of June), without giving a reason if you do not wish to. If you do withdraw from a study after some data have been collected you will be asked if you are content for the data collected thus far to be retained and included in the study. If you prefer, the data collected can be destroyed and not included in the study. Once the research has been completed (31 May 2021 for the survey; 18 June 2021 for the focus groups), and the data analysed, it will not be possible for you to withdraw your data from the study.

For more information on your rights in general, please see the information on the following links:

https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/legal/data-protection-and-gdpr/requesting-your-data

This research is compliant with the following legal documents:

• Requirements of the UK Research Integrity Office Code of Practice for Research

• The University of Portsmouth’s Ethics Policy

• The Data Protection Act (DPA) and General Data Protection Requirement (GDPR) 2018 (Information Commissioner’s Office, 2018) as applicable to the United Kingdom

• The Universities UK Concordat to Support Research Integrity

• British Educational Research Association (BERA) Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research

If you have any queries about this project, please contact Dr Melita Panagiota Sidiropoulou (melita.sidiropoulou@port.ac.uk) or uopsurveys@port.ac.uk.

If you have any general queries about how your data will be processed, please contact the University of Portsmouth’s Data Protection Officer, Samantha Hill, using any of the following contact details:

Samantha Hill, 023 9284 3642 or information-matters@port.ac.uk

University House, Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 2UP, UK

You also have the right to lodge a complaint about the use of your personal data, initially to the University of Portsmouth (email information-matters@port.ac.uk) and then, if you are unhappy with our response, to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – for more information please see https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/raising-concerns/ .

This research is being funded by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), an independent body that checks on standards and quality in UK higher education. None of the researchers or study staff will receive any financial reward by conducting this study, other than their normal salary.

Research involving human participants is reviewed by an ethics committee to ensure that the dignity and well-being of participants is respected. This study has been reviewed by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences ethics committee (Ethics-fhss@port.ac.uk) and has been given favourable ethical opinion.

More information about the project