Patricia Krimmer's Senior Thesis

Patricia Krimmer's Psychology Thesis
Scripps College - 2010

Letter to Mothers

My name is Patricia Krimmer, and I am a senior at Scripps College in Claremont, California. I am completing my undergraduate senior thesis this semester in psychology and I would appreciate your assistance and that of your child or children with a research study on family relationships and school experiences. I am specifically researching interactions between mothers and their children in junior high/middle school or high school (or approximately ages 11-18 years). Therefore, I am asking mothers and their children some questions through an online survey. Each mother who participates must also have at least one child in either junior high/middle school or high school who will participate in the student survey. If you have multiple children in this age range, up to five can participate.

If you and your child/children decide to participate, you will be asked to fill out an online survey with multiple-choice questions about yourself and your relationships with your child/children in junior high/middle school or high school. This will take between 10 and 20 minutes to complete, depending on how many children will be filling out the student survey, as there are sections you will answer specifically for each child. Your child/children will also be asked to answer similar questions, about themselves, and their relationship with you, in addition to some questions about their experiences taking tests in school.

As a "Thank You" for participating, all mothers and students who complete the survey will have the opportunity to enter a drawing that will include one $50 gift card and ten $10 gift cards. Eleven individual winners will be selected at random and be able to chose a gift card from Best Buy, Amazon.com, Target, iTunes, Macy’s, or any other retailer we agree on. As a mother, you can enter upon finishing the mother version of the survey. Subsequently, your child/children can individually enter upon finishing the student version of the survey.

You or your child/children may begin to feel tired or uncomfortable while taking the participating due to the length of the surveys and subject matter of family interactions or test taking experiences. Participation is completely voluntary, so you and your child/children will have the option to skip questions, take a break, or stop participating at anytime.

Responses will be completely anonymous, and no personal information about you or your child/children beyond age, gender, educational level, and your child’s typical grades in school will be asked for or collected. However, if it is found that a child is in danger of being harmed, the law requires that steps be taken to portect the child’s safety.

If you have any questions regarding the research, please feel free to contact me:
Patricia Krimmer
Patricia.Krimmer@ScrippsCollege.edu
(909) 964-6547

You may also choose to contact my faculty adviser:
Dr. Alan Hartley
Alan.Hartley@ScrippsCollege.edu
(909) 607-3249

If you have any questions regarding you or your child’s rights as a research participant, please contact the Scripps College Institutional Review Board:
c/o Linda Scott, Assistant to the President
Linda.Scott@ScrippsCollege.edu
(909) 607-3601

To provide consent to participate in this study as a mother and to grant permission for up to five of your children in junior high/middle school or high school to participate as students, please fill out the form below. After filling out the form you will be redirected to a website with links to the mother survey and student survey. You will also be sent an e-mail with the survey links. The information above will be repeated before you begin each survey, and the letter you see below will be read before your child/children begin the student survey.

Thank you very much for your contribution to my research! You may print this page for your records.

Letter to Students

(This is the information your child/children will read before beginning the student survey)

My name is Patricia Krimmer, and I am a senior at Scripps College in Claremont, California. I am doing my senior research project right now about family relationships and students’ experiences in school. I am specifically researching how students in junior high/middle school and high school interact with their mothers at home and how they take tests at school. Your mom has already taken an online survey and now it would really help me out if you could answer some questions as well.

If you participate, you will be asked to fill out an online survey with multiple-choice questions about yourself your relationship with your mother, and some questions about your experiences with taking tests in school. This should take about 15 minutes to finish.

As a "Thank You" for participating, after you finish the survey you will be able to enter a drawing that will include one $50 gift card and ten $10 gift cards. Eleven individual winners will be selected at random and be able to chose a gift card from Best Buy, Amazon.com, Target, iTunes, Macy’s, or any other retailer he/she and I agree on.

It is possible that you could start to feel tired or uncomfortable while answering the questions. If this happens, please take a break and come back when you feel better. You do not have to finish answering the questions if you do not want to. You may skip any questions, or even exit the survey at any time.

I will not ask you any personal information (like your name) except for your age, gender, what kind of school you attend, and what your typical grades are. Nobody can find out who you are from this information, which means that nobody will know what your answers are, or that you even took the survey, because your name and other personal information about you is not anywhere on it. However, if I find out that you are in danger of being hurt by an adult, I will have to tell someone to make sure you are safe.

If you have any questions regarding the research, please feel free to contact me:
Patricia Krimmer
Patricia.Krimmer@ScrippsCollege.edu
(909) 964-6547

You may also choose to contact my faculty adviser:
Dr. Alan Hartley
Alan.Hartley@ScrippsCollege.edu
(909) 607-3249

Thank you very much for helping me with my research! You can print the information on this page if you would like a copy.

Consent and Permission Form

(For Mothers to fill out and submit in order to provide consent to participate in the mother survey and permission for their child/children to participate in the student survey.)

Your Name:
Your Email Address:
Child name(s):
(Remember,you can provide permission for up to five of your children if they are all in junior high/middle school or high school)
Today's date (mm/dd/yy):

Please review the statement below and click submit when ready.

By submitting this form I am certifying that the information above is true and correct, I am 18 years or older and the mother of one or more children in junior high/middle school or high school, I have read and understood all the information presented above, and I willingly agree to participate in this study being conducted by Patricia Krimmer as a part of her undergraduate senior thesis at Scripps College. In addition, I am granting permission for the minor or minors listed above to participate in this study, and I am their mother or legal guardian.

Thanks again!
Patricia Krimmer