Conducting Educational Research

PARENTAL/GUARDIAN CONSENT FORM
WRITING A RESEARCH QUESTION
Your child is invited to be in a research study about test anxiety and academic self
esteem. I am asking for your child’s participation to assist in my research for the
completion of my Master of Education degree as your child is currently enrolled in
my class. I ask that you read this form and ask any questions you may have before
agreeing to have your child in this study. I can be reached at the school at 555-1234
or at home at 555-1111 (please no calls after 9:00pm).
The study: The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a relationship
between a students’ academic self-esteem and the presence of test anxiety. If you
agree to have your child in this study, your child will be asked to complete two
questionnaires. Your child will be asked to rate to what degree they feel anxiety
coming into a test situation (on a rating scale of never, almost never, almost always
and always) and the second will evaluate their level of academic self-esteem (by
responding yes and no to different items). The questionnaires will take approximately
20 to 45 minutes to complete.
Risks/benefits: I feel there is little risk to the students. They are merely reporting
their feelings in an anonymous setting. Individual students may feel like I will be
scrutinizing them, but after explaining how the anonymity of the study works,
hopefully their fears will be put to rest. Each student participating in this study will
receive a fun pen or pencil, regardless of whether or not she or he completes the
questionnaires.
Confidentiality: The records of this study will be kept private. Questionnaires will
be coded to maintain anonymity and only I shall have access to the information.
The coding is only done so that the data from the questionnaire can be sorted based
on different demographic criteria. In the finished project, it will be impossible to
identify subjects by name. Consent forms will be kept securely along with questionnaire
results for 1 year after the completion of this study.
Voluntary nature/questions: Your decision whether or not to participate will not
affect current or future relations with me or the school. This is a personal endeavor
to help me better understand how my students think. If you decide to allow your
child to participate, I would greatly appreciate the assistance. Again, I welcome
any questions or concerns and look forward to getting started, so please feel free to
contact me if you have concerns.
Tia Martini
Name of Child ________________________________________
Signature of Parent/Guardian _______________________________ Date _______
Figure 2.1. Sample letter of informed consent that needs to be signed.
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