Informed Consent By filling out this questionnaire, you are consenting to participate in our research. Your participation in this survey is voluntary, and you may choose not to respond to any question or terminate the survey at any time. While it is not possible for participants to withdraw previously submitted responses, responses of participants who did not complete the survey will be destroyed prior to analysis. All information you provide in this survey will be kept strictly confidential in accordance with Simon Fraser University's research ethics guidelines. Any contact information you provide will only be used to contact prize winners. After the prize draw has been completed, all of the contact information will be stripped from the database, and the anonymized records will be moved to a separate secure research database server at Simon Fraser University. Individual records will be identified using a code for data analysis. Your responses will be analyzed in aggregate and will not be identifiable in any publications. While the anonymized raw data collected in this study will be stored indefinitely to facilitate longitudinal research on avalanche safety, it will never be shared outside of the avalanche research program at Simon Fraser University. Please note that posting to comments sections on social media or other forums about this study may identify you as a participant. We therefore suggest that if this study was made available to you via a social media site or other online forums, you refrain from posting comments to protect your anonymity. If you indicate interest in participating in future studies on avalanche risk communication, we will store your email address for contacting you in the future in a database separate from the database used for the current analysis. The winter backcountry activities mentioned in this survey involve serious risks that can lead to severe injuries and/or death. Note that being associated with these activities might negatively affect your insurance benefits (e.g., travel insurance). For any questions regarding this study, please contact Dr. Pascal Haegeli, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Avalanche Risk Management, at pascal.haegeli@sfu.ca or 778-782-3579. If you have any concerns about your rights as a research participant and/or your experiences while participating in this study, you may contact Dr. Jeffrey Toward, Director, Office of Research Ethics at jtoward@sfu.ca or 778-782-6593. |