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COMPASS Survey
Published on May 12, 2017 13:08
Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):
Our school will be participating in the 2016-17 COMPASS survey. This survey is in addition to the CSTADS Survey that we recently participated in. Researchers from the University of Waterloo will ask students to complete a 35-minute questionnaire about healthy eating, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, smoking, alcohol and marijuana-use, and bullying. At participating schools in our board, surveys will also include questions related to mental health and well-being. The survey is confidential and no names are written on the surveys. This means that the name of your child will not be linked with their survey responses. The surveys will be stored at the University of Waterloo and only research staff will have access to the completed surveys. The survey responses will help researchers gather details about youth health, and this information will be shared with our school to help improve school policies and practices related to health. Both the school board and our school have given approval to conduct the study. The survey is repeated once each year, following the same students. There are no known or anticipated risks to participation in this survey.
On May 31, 2017, students in grades 9 to 12 with parental permission, and who themselves agree to participate, will be asked to take part in the survey. Students are free to withdraw from the survey at any time, without penalty.
If you do not wish your child to participate, please call the COMPASS School Research Coordinator, Rachel Reel, at 1-844-819-8388 or contact the school main office at 705-445-2043 by May 31, 2017. Consent will be assumed unless you notify us otherwise. If you leave a message, please include:
- your child's name,
- your child's grade,
- the name of your child's school, and
- the name of your child's teacher.
This project has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee (ORE #22015 Test). If you have questions for the Committee, contact the Chief Ethics Officer, Office of Research Ethics, at 1-519-888-4567, Ext. 36005 or [email protected]
To view a copy of the survey questions or for more information about the COMPASS project, please visit www.compass.uwaterloo.ca, or contact COMPASS Project Manager, Chad Bredin, at 1-519-888-4567 x33317 or [email protected]
Please note that in cases where researchers believe that a student may need protection from harm, researchers must by law report this information to authorities.
Sincerely,
Natalie Zyla
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