Ethics Application Form: Student Research

Anyone conducting research under the auspices of the Institute (staff, students or
visitors) where the research involves human participants or the use of data collected from
human participants, is required to gain ethical approval before starting. This includes
preliminary and pilot studies. Please answer all relevant questions in terms that can be
understood by a lay person and note that your form may be returned if incomplete.

For further support and guidance please see accompanying guidelines and the Ethics
Review Procedures for Student Research or contact your supervisor.
Before completing this form you will need to discuss your proposal fully with your
supervisor(s).

Please attach all supporting documents and letters.

For all Psychology students, this form should be completed with reference to the British
Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Human Research Ethics and Code of Ethics and
Conduct.

Section 1: Project Details

a) Project title: Effects Of Social Media On The Mental Health Of Chinese Students
b) Student name: Enter text
c) Supervisor/Personal Tutor: Enter text
d) Department: Enter text
e) Course category (tick one):
PhD/MPhil
EdD
MRes
DEdPsy
MTeach
MA/MSc ✘
ITE
Diploma (state which) Enter text
Other (state which) Enter text
f) Course/module title: Enter text
g) If applicable, state who the funder is and if funding has been confirmed: Enter text
h) Intended research start date: Enter text
i) Intended research end date: Enter text
j) Country fieldwork will be conducted in: China

If research to be conducted abroad please check the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(FCO) and submit a completed travel risk assessment form (see guidelines). If the FCO
advice is against travel this will be required before ethical approval can be granted: UCL
travel advice webpage
 k) Has this project been considered by another (external) Research Ethics Committee?

Yes
External Committee Name: Enter text
Date of Approval: Enter text

No ✘ go to Section 2

If yes:
- Submit a copy of the approval letter with this application.
- Proceed to Section 10 Attachments.

Note: Ensure that you check the guidelines carefully as research with some participants
will require ethical approval from a different ethics committee such as the National
Research Ethics Service (NRES) or Social Care Research Ethics Committee (SCREC).
In addition, if your research is based in another institution then you may be required to
apply to their research ethics committee.

Section 2 - Research methods summary (tick all that apply)

✘ Interviews
Focus Groups
✘ Questionnaires
Action Research
✘ Observation
✘ Literature Review
Controlled trial/other intervention study
Use of personal records
Systematic review – if only method used go to Section 5
Secondary data analysis – if secondary analysis used go to Section 6
Advisory/consultation/collaborative groups
Other, give details: Enter text

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 Please provide an overview of the project, focusing on your methodology. This
should include some or all of the following: purpose of the research, aims, main
research questions, research design, participants, sampling, data collection
(including justifications for methods chosen and description of topics/questions to
be asked), reporting and dissemination. Please focus on your methodology; the
theory, policy, or literary background of your work can be provided in an attached
document (i.e. a full research proposal or case for support document). Minimum
150 words required.

The purpose of this mixed methods study is to investigate the impact of social media on
mental health outcomes among Chinese university students aged 18-25 years. The
primary research questions driving this project are: 1) What is the correlation between
time spent on social media and mental health indicators like stress, anxiety and
depression? 2) How does problematic social media use narratively affect students’
emotional wellbeing and ability to balance life responsibilities?
An explanatory sequential design is utilized beginning with a quantitative strand, followed
by a qualitative strand to explore initial survey results in more depth. In the first phase,
800 students from six major Chinese universities will be recruited via multi-stage stratified
random sampling to complete an online survey. This survey comprises measures of
social media platform preferences and duration of use, standardized mental health scales
(GAD-7, PHQ-9), and perceived academic pressure and social support. Descriptive
analysis will identify trends in platform usage and correlation of extensive use with
anxiety/depression levels. Multiple regression will determine the predictive capacity of
social media use for mental health outcomes when accounting for academic pressure as
a covariate.
The second phase will purposively sample 15 survey participants who show heightened
risk for technology addiction based on a problematic usage scale. In-depth semi-
structured video interviews lasting 30-45 minutes will be conducted to uncover personal
narratives of social media’s emotional impact and its role in their academic/personal
functioning. An interview guide facilitates discussion on topics like platform preference,
comparisons with peers, consequences of excessive use. Transcripts will undergo
reflexive thematic analysis to uncover major themes related to benefits/detriments and
coping strategies. Finally, an integrated matrix combines key statistical analyses with
predominant interview themes to convey meaningful mixed methods results.
This study obtained ethical approval prior to recruitment. All participation is optional and
interviewees can exit any stage. Methodological rigor is addressed via stratified
sampling, validated mental health measures and multiple analyst triangulation. Results
will inform university counseling services on developing customized social media literacy
and moderation programs catering to Chinese young adults that proactively address
emergent mental health challenges in a digital age.

Section 3 – research Participants (tick all that apply)

a) Will your research involve human participants?
Yes ✘
No (if ‘No’, go to Section 4)

b) Who are the participants for this project (i.e. what sorts of people will be involved)? Tick
all that apply

Student Ethics Form v4: updated 06/10/22 Page 3 of 15

 Early years/pre-school
Ages 5-11
Ages 12-16
✘ Young people aged 17-18
✘ Adults please specify below
Unknown – specify below
No participants

College and University students aged between 18-25

Note: Ensure that you check the guidelines carefully as research with some participants
will require ethical approval from a different ethics committee such as the National
Research Ethics Service (NRES) or Social Care Research Ethics Committee (SCREC).

c) If participants are under the responsibility of others (such as parents, teachers or medical
staff) how do you intend to obtain permission to approach the participants to take part in
the study? (Please attach approach letters or details of permission procedures - see
Section 9)

Since the participants in my study are university students aged 18-25 years, they are legally adults capable
of providing direct consent. However, I still plan to take the following steps to ensure proper permissions:
1. Obtain ethical approval from the institutional review boards (IRBs) at each of the six target universities
before recruitment. This requires submitting my complete research protocol covering aims, procedures,
ethics, data management etc. Approval from the IRBs provides validation that the study methodology is
ethical.
2. Coordinate directly with university counseling/mental health centers to facilitate promotion of the
research opportunity among students. These centers can help share recruitment ads via institutional
channels after reviewing the project details. Their partnership conveys an additional layer of legitimacy.
3. All survey and interview participants will sign an approved digital consent form clearly stating what the
research entails, what their participation involves, potential risks/benefits and their rights. This
emphasizes that participation purely voluntary.
4. For interviews, students will again be briefed before the discussion on aims, procedures, privacy rights
and can opt out anytime without consequence. Re-consenting ensures continued, fully informed
participation.

d) How will participants be recruited (identified and approached)?

Participants for this study examining the impact of social media on mental health of Chinese university
students will be recruited using the following process: Six major universities in China reflecting a diverse
regional spread have been strategically selected for recruitment based on feasibility and generaliziblity
considerations: Peking University, Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, Zhejiang University, Fudan
University and Sichuan University. Within each university, undergraduate and graduate students aged 18-
25 years will be invited to participate in the online survey via emails sent through institutional listservs
and promotions shared on university social media groups/pages. The emails and ads will contain brief
details on the study aims, procedures and investigator contacts along with a link to the survey portal.
Survey respondents will indicate their interest in a follow-up interview at the end of the questionnaire.
Based on problematic social media usage scores, 15 students reporting heightened addiction risk and
mental health issues will be purposively selected for the qualitative phase. They will be approached

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 directly via email to schedule an interview. Additionally, a snowball sampling method will also be used by
requesting interested participants to share the survey link with other Chinese students in their network
through social media and other channels. This facilitates wider reach beyond the initial university
sampling frame.

e) Describe the process you will use to inform participants about what you are doing

I will inform participants about the study details through a multi-pronged approach. A participant information sh

f) How will you obtain the consent of participants? Will this be written? How will it be made
clear to participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at any time?

Consent will be obtained from all participants in this study through a two-step process. First, an
information sheet clearly outlining key details will be provided, including the purpose, procedures,
involvement extent, data usage/confidentiality, risks/benefits, and their right to voluntarily participate or
withdraw at any time without consequence. Second, willing participants will sign a written consent form
to confirm their understanding of these details along with agreement to contribute as subjects. This
reiterates that they have fully read or had explained the information presented and are making an
informed, independent decision to participate under no duress or obligation. Their signature validates
consent. For qualitative interviews, this documentation will be supplemented by verbally re-consenting
participants at the start after addressing any questions. They will again be reminded of procedures, usage
of recordings, minimal risks and their option to skip questions or stop the interview at any point if
uncomfortable, emphasizing consent as an ongoing process. This multi-modal deliverance ensures that
awareness of the voluntary nature of participation is maximized through both detailed forms and active
discussion. If any participant were to rescind consent post-interview, their recordings and transcripts
would also be immediately discarded. This rigorous consent procedure upholding participant autonomy
through information transparency and choice preservation will serve as an ethical cornerstone of my
dissertation research on social media and student mental health.

g) Studies involving questionnaires: will participants be given the option of omitting

questions they do not wish to answer?
Yes ✘
No*

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 *If no, please explain why below, and ensure that you cover any ethical issues arising
from this in Section 8

Enter text

h) Studies involving observation: please confirm whether participants will be asked for
their informed consent to be observed
Yes ✘
No*

*If no, read the guidelines (Ethical Issues section) and explain why below and ensure
that you cover any ethical issues arising from this in section 8

Enter text

i) Might participants experience anxiety, discomfort, or embarrassment as a result of your

study?
Yes*
No* ✘

*If yes, what steps will you take to explain and minimise this?

Enter text

*If no, explain how you can be sure that no discomfort or embarrassment will arise?

The participants in this study are not expected to experience any undue discomfort or embarrassment.
Several safeguards have been integrated into the methodology to prevent this:
1. The survey questions are standardized scales validated in multiple mental health research studies. They
do not contain sensitive personal questions, rather just asking participants to self-evaluate their current
level of anxiety/depression. Demographic details are also routine.
2. Interview discussion topics cover broad experiences of social media usage, comparisons with peers, and
resulting emotional states/coping habits. They do not probe deeply intimate, embarrassing details and
participants can refuse to answer anything uncomfortable.
3. Identities are anonymized via de-identified transcripts and data storage to protect privacy. Results will
only report group-level statistics and general thematic analyses withoutindicator variables that could
pinpoint individuals.
Additionally, both surveys and interviews are completely voluntary with reminders that withdrawal from
participation is possible at any time without consequence. Selection of university students as competent
adults also minimizes power differentials. Finally, for interviews, questions are non-leading and non-
judgmental in tone; researchers establish rapport, remain engaged and allow space for reflection.
Combined with informed consent procedures, these measured precautions comprehensively preclude
participant distress. However, if any discomfort arises inadvertently, counselors are available for
consultation at students' respective universities. Proactive safeguards, voluntary involvement and access
to support minimize likelihood of negative experiences establishing participant wellbeing as paramount.

Student Ethics Form v4: updated 06/10/22 Page 6 of 15

 j) Will your project involve deliberately misleading participants (deception) in any way?
Yes*
No ✘

If yes, please provide further details below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues
arising from this in Section 8

Enter text

k) Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation (i.e. give them a brief
explanation of the study)?
Yes ✘
No*

*If no, please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues arising
from this in section 8

Enter text

l) Will participants be given information about the findings of your study? (This could be a
brief summary of your findings in general; it is not the same as an individual debriefing)
Yes ✘
No*

If no, why not?

Enter text

Section 4 - Security-sensitive material (only complete if

applicable)
Security sensitive research includes: commissioned by the military; commissioned under
an EU security call; involves the acquisition of security clearances; concerns terrorist or
extreme groups.

a. Will your project consider or encounter security-sensitive material?

Yes* No ✘
b. Will you be visiting websites associated with extreme or terrorist organisations?
Yes* No ✘
c. Will you be storing or transmitting any materials that could be interpreted as promoting or
endorsing terrorist acts?
Yes* No ✘

* Give further details in Section 8 Ethical Issues

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 Section 5 – Systematic reviews of research (only complete if
applicable)
a. Will you be collecting any new data from participants?
Yes* ✘ No
b. Will you be analysing any secondary data?
Yes* ✘ No
* Give further details in Section 8 Ethical Issues
If your methods do not involve engagement with participants (e.g. systematic review,
literature review) and if you have answered No to both questions, please go to Section
10 Attachments.

Section 6 - Secondary data analysis (only complete if

applicable)
a. Name of dataset/s: Enter text
b. Owner of dataset/s: Enter text

c. Are the data in the public domain?

Yes No

If no, do you have the owner’s permission/license?

Yes No*

d. Are the data special category personal data (i.e. personal data revealing racial or ethnic
origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and
the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a
natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or
sexual orientation)?
Yes* No

e. Will you be conducting analysis within the remit it was originally collected for?
Yes No*
f. If no, was consent gained from participants for subsequent/future analysis?
Yes No*
g. If no, was data collected prior to ethics approval process?
Yes No*

* Give further details in Section 8 Ethical Issues

If secondary analysis is only method used and no answers with asterisks are ticked, go
to Section 9 Attachments.

Student Ethics Form v4: updated 06/10/22 Page 8 of 15

 Section 7 – Data storage and security
a) Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in compliance with the
General Data Protection Registration (GDPR). (See the Guidelines and the Institute’s
Data Protection & Records Management Policy for more detail.)
Yes ✘

b) Will personal data be processed or be sent outside of the European Economic Area
(EEA)?
Yes*
No ✘

*If yes, please confirm that there are adequate levels of protections in compliance with
the DPA 2018 and state what these arrangements are below

Enter text

c) Who will have access to the data and personal information, including
advisory/consultation groups, and during transcription?

Only members of the direct dissertation research team will have access during analysis including myself, my sup

During the research

d) Where will the data be stored?

Participant data and survey files will be securely stored on password-protected servers. Physical documents will

e) Will mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops be used?

Yes ✘
No

*If yes, state what mobile devices will be used

Laptops and audio recorders with encryption will be used to minimize risk. USBs will not be used. Participants

After the research

f) Where will the data be stored?

After completion, data and transcripts will be securely stored on institutional approved servers. Email/personal l

g) How long will the data and records be kept for, and in what format?

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 As mandated by our ethics committee and in line with the university’s retention policy, records will be stored fo

h) Will the data be archived for use by other researchers?

Yes
No ✘

*If yes, please provide details

Enter text

Section 8 – Ethical Issues

Are there particular features of the proposed work which may raise ethical concerns or
add to the complexity of ethical decision making? If so, please outline how you will deal
with these below.
It is important that you demonstrate your awareness of potential risks or harm that may
arise as a result of your research. You should then demonstrate that you have
considered ways to minimise the likelihood and impact of each potential harm that you
have identified. Please be as specific as possible in describing the ethical issues you will
have to address. Please consider / address ALL issues that may apply from the below.

Ethical concerns may include, but not be limited to, the following areas:
- Methods
- Sampling
- Recruitment
- Gatekeepers
- Informed consent
- Potentially vulnerable participants
- Safeguarding/child protection
- Sensitive topics
- International research
- Risks to participants and/or researchers
- Confidentiality/Anonymity
- Disclosures/limits to confidentiality
- Data storage and security both during and after the research (including transfer, sharing,
encryption, protection)
- Reporting
- Dissemination and use of findings

This study examines the impact of social media on mental health outcomes among
Chinese university students, necessitating a multifaceted ethics protocol spanning
participant recruitment, data collection/usage and dissemination.

Student Ethics Form v4: updated 06/10/22 Page 10 of 15

 The core pillars underpinning all procedures are voluntariness, anonymity and distress
avoidance/support provision. Multi-stage random sampling across six universities aids
generalizability while age and addiction risk behavior stratification enables specific high-
risk groups examination, justified by societal benefits. However, despite competency,
rigorously informed consent is vital - spanning information sheets, consent forms signing
and ongoing verbal reconfirmation during interviews. This upholds autonomy and
transparency regarding involvement extent and usage of recordings while allowing opting
out from participation or questions at one’s discretion. Interviews build rapport, use
neutral questioning and permit reflection spaces to prevent discomfort. Possible distress
is also minimized via reliance on validated clinical scales with established safety.
However, to address any inadvertent upset, university counselor contacts will be
provided for emotional processing.
Relatedly, confidentiality is stringently maintained throughout by restricting document
access to core research members only post deidentification. Audio recordings require
explicit permission pre-usage then undergo encryption while pseudonymization during
analysis/writing prevents individual labels. Anonymity applies for public dissemination as
findings will exclude particulars that reveal identities or endanger student welfare. Certain
disclosure limitations around self-harm also apply despite overall aims targeting
constructive policy changes like better campus support services.
Data security equally upholds privacy with access restrictions to password-protected
drives plus physical locking. While temporary encrypted storage on recorders facilitates
interviews, long-term retention avoids personal laptops. As mandated by university
guidelines, five years secured tenure will persist post-study before information deletion,
conforming to ethics committee deletion mandates.
Ultimately an ethical equilibrium is sought between rigorous investigation into an
understudied area with significant knowledge gaps versus guaranteed participant
protections every step, whether during surveys, candid discussions or future evidence
usage. Adherence to voluntary involvement, emotional/psychological safeguarding,
anonymization and accountable data handling upholds beneficence obligations to both
subjects and the wider student constituency grappling with technological disruption of
mental health. The multifaceted protocol tailored around transparency, autonomy and
support access prevents exploitative practices, cementing participant wellbeing at the
heart of this socially impactful dissertation.

Section 9 – Further information

Outline any other information you feel is relevant to this submission, using a separate
sheet or attachments if necessary

Enter text

Section 10 – Face to Face data collection (only complete if

you will be collecting face to face data outside of the UK)
Provide details of your back-up plan for online data collection methods or secondary data
analysis, which will be put into action should you need to cease F2F data collection (max
150 words).

Please note that should you need to change your data collection methods due to a
change in Covid19 regulations in the country context of your research (for example, if
lockdown is re-introduced) you will need to submit to your supervisor:

Student Ethics Form v4: updated 06/10/22 Page 11 of 15

 a) a revised information sheet
b) consent form
c) details of any additional/different risks linked to online data collection.

In cases where back-up plans have to be implemented, students must not proceed with
online data collection until they have received written approval (via email) from their
tutor/supervisor.

Enter text

Section 11 – Attachments
Please attach the following items to this form, or explain if not attached:

a) Information sheets and other materials to be used to inform potential participants about the
research, including approach letters
Yes No N/A

b) Consent form
Yes No N/A

c) The proposal for the project

Yes No N/A

d) Approval Letter from external Research Ethics Committee

Yes No N/A

e) Full risk assessment

Yes No N/A

Section 12 – Declaration
I have read, understood, and will abide by the following set of guidelines:
Yes ✘ No

Please select guidelines this project will be abiding by:

BPS
BERA
BSA
Other (please state) Enter text

I have discussed the ethics issues relation to my research with my supervisor

Yes ✘ No

I have attended the appropriate ethics training provided by my course

Yes ✘ No

I confirm that to the best of my knowledge:

The above information is correct and this is a full description of the ethics issues that may
arise in the course of this project
Student Ethics Form v4: updated 06/10/22 Page 12 of 15
 Name: Enter text
Date: Enter text

Once complete, please submit your complete ethics forms to your supervisor

Notes & References

Student Ethics Form v4: updated 06/10/22 Page 13 of 15

 Useful links & information
Professional code of ethics
You should read and understand relevant ethics guidelines, for example:
British Psychological Society (2018) Code of Ethics and Conduct
or
British Educational Research Association (2018) Ethical Guidelines
or
British Sociological Association (2017) Statement of Ethical Practice
Please see the respective websites for these or later versions; direct links to the latest
versions are available on the Institute of Education Research Ethics webpage

Disclosure and Barring Service checks

If you are planning to carry out research in regulated Education environments such as
Schools, or if your research will bring you into contact with children and young people
(under the age of 18), you will need to have a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
CHECK, before you start. The DBS was previously known as the Criminal Records
Bureau (CRB)). If you do not already hold a current DBS check, and have not registered
with the DBS update service, you will need to obtain one through UCL.

Ensure that you apply for the DBS check in plenty of time as will take around 4 weeks,
though can take longer depending on the circumstances.

Further references

Robson, Colin (2011). Real world research: a resource for social scientists and
practitioner researchers (3rd edition). Oxford: Blackwell.
This text has a helpful section on ethical considerations.

Alderson, P. and Morrow, V. (2011) The Ethics of Research with Children and Young
People: A Practical Handbook. London: Sage.
This text has useful suggestions if you are conducting research with children and young
people.

Wiles, R. (2013) What are Qualitative Research Ethics? Bloomsbury.

A useful and short text covering areas including informed consent, approaches to
research ethics including examples of ethical dilemmas.

Student Ethics Form v4: updated 06/10/22 Page 14 of 15

 Departmental use
If a project raises particularly challenging ethics issues, or a more detailed review would
be appropriate, the supervisor must refer the application to the Research Development
Administrator via email so that it can be submitted to the IOE Research Ethics Committee
for consideration. A departmental research ethics coordinator or representative can
advise you, either to support your review process, or help decide whether an application
should be referred to the REC. If unsure please refer to the guidelines explaining when to
refer the ethics application to the IOE Research Ethics Committee, posted on the
committee’s website.

Student name: Enter text

Course: Enter text
Project Title: Enter text

Reviewer 1
Supervisor name: Enter text
Supervisor comments:

Enter text

Supervisor/first reviewer signature: Enter text

Date: Enter text

Reviewer 2
Advisory committee/course team member name: Enter text
Advisory committee/course team member coments:

Enter text

Advisory committee/course team member signature: Enter text

Date: Enter text

Decision on behalf of reviewers

Approved
Referred back to applicant and supervisor
Referred to the REC for review

Recording
Recorded in the student information system

Once completed and approved, please send this form and associated documents to the
relevant programme administrator to record on the student information system and to
securely store.

Further guidance on ethical issues can be found on the UCL Institute of Education
Research Ethics Committee website

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