Project Title: Understanding the Value of Visual Graph-based Information and Visual Analysis
Sponsors:
Investigators:
You are being asked to join a research study. This consent form explains the research study and your part in it. Please read this form carefully before you decide to take part. You can take as much time as you need. Please ask questions at any time about anything you do not understand. You are a volunteer. If you join the study, you can change your mind later. You can decide not to take part right now or you can stop at any time.
Why is this research being done?
The present research seeks to investigate the gaze patterns of participants analyzing graph-based data for the value of information, or the meaning associated with the graph-based information. Participants will first complete a brief demographics questionnaire. Next, they will be calibrated to a non-invasive desktop-based eye-tracker and will be asked to view a series of graphs for semantic information. Lastly, participants will complete a brief post experiment questionnaire. The eye-tracking data will be used to improve the quantification of meaningfulness of information. For example, we propose that longer dwells times will be associated with more importance or greater value associated with that specific piece of information.
What will happen if you join this study?
After providing this Informed Consent, you will be presented with the demographic survey to complete. Next, you will be directed to an Information Visualization Software where you will be required to calibrate the eye tracking device. During the calibration procedure you will be asked to gaze at different points on the monitor. Upon calibration and familiarization with the interface, you will be asked to use the software tool to answer a series of questions pertaining to the different link-node visualizations displayed in the interface from the website VolunteerScience.com. You will carry out the exercises using the eye tracking instrument. Upon conclusion of the experiment, the eye-tracker will be turned off, and you will be free to go.
How much time will the study take?
Your participation will likely take less than 10 minutes with a maximum of 15minutes.
What are the risks or discomforts of the study?
There are no foreseeable risks associated with this study. There is no more discomforted associated with this study than working in a seated position for an equivalent amount of time.
Are there benefits to being in the study?
You will receive no benefit from participating in this research.
Will you be paid if you join this study?
No.
How will your privacy be protected?
Your participation in this research is confidential. The data will be stored and secured on password-protected computer drives. Publication of the results of this study in a journal or technical report or presentation at a meeting will not reveal personally identifiable information. This consent form will be retained by the principal investigator for a minimum of three years after the close of the study. After which, it will be destroyed.
The research staff will protect your data from disclosure to people not connected with the study. However, complete confidentiality cannot be guaranteed because officials of the U.S. Army Human Research Protections Office and the Army Research Laboratory’s Institutional Review Board are permitted by law to inspect the records obtained in this study to ensure compliance with laws and regulations covering experiments using human subjects.
Where can I get more information?
You have the right to obtain answers to any questions you might have about this research both while you take part in the study and after you leave the research site. Please contact anyone listed at the top of the first page of this consent form for more information about this study. You may also contact the Human Protection Administrator (HPA) of the Army Research Laboratory at (410) 278-5928 with questions, complaints, or concerns about this research, or if you feel this study has harmed you. The HPA can also answer questions about your rights as a research subject. You may also call the HPA if you cannot reach the research team or wish to talk to someone who is not a member of the research team.
Voluntary Participation
Your decision to participate in this research is completely voluntary. You can withdraw from the study at any time. You do not have to answer any questions you do not want to answer. Refusal to take part in or withdrawal from this study will involve no penalty or loss of benefits you would receive by staying in it.
Military personnel cannot be punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for choosing not to take part in or withdrawing from this study, and cannot receive administrative sanctions for choosing not to participate.
Civilian or contractor personnel cannot receive administrative sanctions for choosing not to participate in or withdrawing from this study.
Once your questions about the study have been answered, and if you want to continue your participation in this study, please hit the "I Consent" button below.