INFORMATION
Harkive is an annual, online research project that over the course of a single day aims to gather stories and other data from people about the detail of their music listening. The 2021 instance of The Harkive Project will take place on Tuesday 20th July.
Harkive is part of research being undertaken by Craig Hamilton, a fellow at Birmingham City University. The methods of data collection, storage and analysis used by the project have been designed in accordance with the University’s ethical guidelines for research activity. Please read the following information regarding the study carefully before beginning your participation. If you have difficulty accessing or understanding any part of this information, please contact a member of the research team: info@harkive.org
INFORMED CONSENT
You have been invited to take part in a research study that is looking at the experiences of music listeners. The project has been approved by the Birmingham City University Research Ethics Committee, and your understanding of the information in this document are a condition of that approval.
ABOUT YOUR PARTICIPATION
In this study, you will be posting information in the form of digital text and/or images and video via a connected device of your choice (e.g. mobile phone, laptop, tablet) to one or more of a number of online interfaces and platforms.
In many cases these will be 3rd party-owned platforms and interfaces and will include services such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr. By adding the hashtag #harkive to your posts on these services, you will enable this project to harvest your Harkive stories. Depending on the method you decide to use, and on your privacy settings within the interfaces of the 3rd-party service concerned, the project may also gather additional information alongside your text. You are advised, therefore, to read carefully the Terms and Conditions you have agreed to with the 3rd party service provider concerned.
You may also/instead decide to send your Harkive story via the online form available on the Harkive site, or by sending it to submit@harkive.org. By contributing your stories via these methods you will be providing The Harkive Project with additional information (in particular, your email address). Please be aware that this additional, personal information will not be made available to 3rd parties without your consent. You should also be aware that, in the main body of your Harkive story submitted via the form/email, you are advised to exclude any personal information, and in particular information such as contact/employer information (e.g. telephone numbers, email/postal addresses) that may appear in automatic email signatures. The general advice here is that, in much the same way that you would be advised against posting personal information on to 3rd-Party, publicly available sites, you should exercise similar caution in your own Harkive story posted via email/the form on the Harkive site.
Shortly after the 21st July 2020 you may be invited to complete a short, online survey about your music listening experience. Participation in this survey is voluntary and is not a pre/post-requisite of participation in the story gathering exercise on 21st July 2020. The aim of the survey is to provide additional context and information that will assist with the analysis stage of the project. The survey element of this research project is also requires your informed consent and you will not be able to complete/view the survey without first indicating consent.
At some stage after 20th July 2021 you may be invited to take part in follow up interviews. We envisage that these interviews will include only a very small number of participants. If selected for interview you will be contacted via email. Participation in this stage of the project is also voluntary.
At the end of the process described above your participation will come to an end. Harkive will return again in 2021, and in subsequent years. Information regarding your informed consent in further instances of the project will be made available prior to each instance.
PARTICIPANTS’ RIGHTS
You may decide to stop being a part of this research project at any time without explanation. You also have the right to ask that any data you have supplied to the project be withdrawn/destroyed. You can do this by emailing info@harkive.org. Please be aware, however, that anything posted to third party sites (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instragram) will remain public/available online until such time as you delete it, or your account. Data and information posted to 3rd party platforms remains subject to the Terms and Conditions agreements you have with the services concerned, and as such The Harkive Project has no control over the use of that data by 3rd party service providers.
If you would like to stop participation, please cease to post information with the #harkive hashtag. Your decision to withdraw will not influence the nature of your relationship with the researchers or their institutions either now or in the future.
BENEFITS AND RISKS
Although you might not benefit directly, it is hoped that you will enjoy expressing your opinions on matters related to your music listening activity, that could have potentially useful outcomes for the study of popular music, or for future iterations of this research project.
There are no foreseeable risks to health or well-being as a result of participating in this research project. Participants are reminded, however, that it is their sole responsibility when posting information to ensure that it is safe to do so.
Your participation in this study is voluntary and as such there is no provision for financial reimbursement of any kind. This includes loss, theft or damage to personal equipment (mobile phones, laptops, tablets) that may be incurred during the course of participation in the project.
CONFIDENTIALITY/ANONYMITY
Any personal information collected during the course of your participation will not be provided to 3rd Parties without your consent.
During any public (online/offline) dissemination activity or collaborative research undertaken by the research team (including academic papers and presentations, final doctoral thesis, and so on) your personal information will be fully anonymised. You should be aware, however, that the content of anything originally posted to 3rd party-owned interfaces (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr etc) may remain in the public realm and is subject to the Terms and Conditions of your individual accounts with those services and you are advised to consult the relevant documentation published by your service providers.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
More information can be sought at any time by contacting Craig Hamilton directly via info@harkive.org, including information about final results of the study. Additional questions concerning ethics can be directed to Dr Oliver Carter, BCU’s Research Ethics Committee Convenor.