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This study will consist of a software monitoring program that will log information when you create, select, and edit elements as well as the view you are in while doing so. No other data about your activities will be collected by the tool and at no time will the contents of files or edits be logged. When you exit Protégé or OBO-Edit, you will be prompted to transmit the logged data to a UVic server. You may preview this data before it is sent and can choose not to submit the data at that time. A brief (optional) questionnaire will also be conducted at the end of the study.
The following details the amount of time you will need to spend participating in this study. First, you will need to read the consent form and download and install the tool (approx. 15 mins) and complete the survey at the end (approx. 10 mins). Every time you exit the Protégé or OBO-Edit environment, you will be prompted to confirm that you want to send the data to the study server. The plug-in is very simple to use and very easy to learn as it is consistent with functionality you are already familiar with; the time requirement to learn it will be minimal (5-10 minutes).
Your participation is completely voluntary. No names or other methods of identifying you in reports will be used. The data will be used to improve future tools to support navigation in software development environments. It may also be presented in aggregate form in academic papers and presentations. Only trained researchers will be analyzing the data. These researchers are neutral third parties and are not responsible for any evaluation of your work.
In terms of protecting your anonymity, you will be assigned a unique ID so that your identity will only be accessible to the principal researchers. The unique identifiers will be used to aggregate your submissions but will in no way be used to identify you personally.
Information gathered from the monitoring process will only ever be reported as an aggregate description, neither you nor your company will be identifiable in the reported results. At no time will anyone be able to identify any of the participants by using any of the reported material. All information disclosed to researchers in this project is confidential. All data will be kept secure and protected at all times in password protected files on a secure server. Study data will be kept for three years. At the end of this time computer data files will be deleted.
As a way to compensate you for any inconvenience related to your participation, you will be entered into a drawing for an iPod. It is important for you to know that it is unethical to provide undue compensation or inducements to research participants and, if you agree to be a participant in this study, this form of compensation to you must not be coercive. If you would otherwise choose not to participate if the compensation were not offered, then you should decline. You may benefit from using the tool and you may also gain insight into how you currently navigate the ontology. There are no known or anticipated risks to you by participating in this research.
If you choose, you can withdraw from the study at any time. To withdraw, you may either contact Tricia d'Entremont at (250) 472-5777 or by email or you can select a preference in the plug-in preferences window that will stop any further logging. You may also request to withdraw previously recorded information by contacting the principal investigator (Tricia d'Entremont) or by setting a preference in the plug-in preferences window. You can find instructions on the project website. However, you may also choose to continue using the tool without the logging of data. If you choose to withdraw at any time or to stop logging of data, you will still be eligible to win the iPod.
In addition to being able to contact the researchers, you may verify the ethical approval of this study, or raise any concerns you might have, by contacting the Associate Vice-President, Research at the University of Victoria by telephone (250) 472-4362 or by email .