Shark Perceptions

Perception of shark research
Ethics protocol: 206267

You are invited to participate in an online survey, which will involve completing questions about your own perceptions of sharks but also asking your child(ren) aged 2-12 some questions about sharks.

Specifically, your participation in this online survey will involve responding to various questions exploring your views of sharks and basic demographic information (e.g. gender, age, how you use the ocean). Then you will ask your child(ren) 5 questions about sharks and will be asked to write down everything they your children say in response to these questions, or if your child uses their hands to make gestures you will describe these gestures. One question will also involve an opportunity for you children to draw a picture of a shark (this is optional). If they do draw a picture of a shark you will be asked to take a photo of this and upload it to the online survey.


This survey will take approximately ten minutes to complete.

Participation is voluntary and we do not foresee any possible risks associated with participation beyond those encountered during everyday life.
You must be eighteen years or older to participate in this survey. You have the right to discontinue the survey at any time.

Every effort will be made to ensure that responses are confidential (e.g.: the researchers are using robust and secure software and storing data on secure servers), however, please be aware that they cannot ultimately guarantee the confidentiality or anonymity of any material transferred by email or the internet.

The results of the survey may be published in peer-reviewed academic research; however, all records containing personal information will remain anonymous and no information that could lead to the identification of any individual will be released, unless required by law. If you choose to include a photo of your children's drawing, these images (either the complete image or elements of the image) may be included in a publication and/or conference presentation. If the image is included in the publication, any elements that could be identifiable will be removed. Non-identifiable data may also be made available via an open-access data repository via the UniSA Research Data Portal.

The data will be kept for a minimum period of 5 years as per requirements set out by the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research and the University's policy of ownership and retention of data and the requirements of some academic journals. The deidentified data will be stored on a secure UniSA server and password protected hard drive. All data will be deleted from the REDCAP platform after exporting.

While undertaking the questionnaires you are free to withdraw from the study. However, please note that as the data is non-identifiable, any responses that you have submitted cannot be excluded from the data.

A summary of the research study findings will be available to all participants upon request. Should you wish to receive a summary of the study findings, please contact the chief investigator via the contact details provided.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this survey you can email the primary researcher:
- Dr. Brianna Le Busque: Brianna.lebusque@unisa.edu.au

This project has been reviewed and approved by the University of South Australia's Human Research Ethics Committee (#206267). If you have any ethical concerns about the project or questions about your rights as a participant please contact the Executive Officer of the UniSA Committee, Tel: 8302 6330; Email: humanethics@unisa.edu.au

By completing and submitting the survey, you are indicating that you have read and understood the Participants Information Sheet and give your consent to be involved in the research. Please note that as your child(ren) is aged 2 - 12, if you choose to complete and submit this survey you are also giving their consent.

Prior to asking your child / children questions about sharks, please complete the following three (3) questions yourself.

We are now interested in your child/children's views of sharks.

To collect the data, can you please ask your child / children the questions below and write down everything that they say, if they use words (try to type their exact wording). If your child uses their hands to make gestures, please describe these to the best of your ability.

If you have more than one child aged between 2-12, can you please try to ask each child the questions separately so that they do not influence each other's responses.

The final three questions are for you to answer

For SurveyCircle users (www.surveycircle.com): The Survey Code is: 21ZV-MW7S-WMYJ-1HN5