PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET
Central University Research Ethics Committee Reference: (ID 2799856)
Last updated: 15 April 2026; Version: 7
1. Introductory paragraph
We would like to invite you to participate in The National Conversation on Community Cohesion. You should only participate if you want to; choosing not to take part will not disadvantage you in any way. Before you decide whether you want to take part, it is important for you to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish. Please contact the researchers by email if anything is not clear, if you have questions, or if you would like more information about the study. You can also contact the researchers with any queries or concerns related to this study during and after completion.
2. Why is this research being conducted?
This project aims to understand sense of belonging and perceptions of unity and division in the United Kingdom. The study will involve completing a questionnaire with some interactive elements. It will require around 10-15 minutes of your time. You will be presented with questions about how you feel about your local area and the United Kingdom along with some basic demographic questions.
3. Why have I been invited to take part?
We are inviting anyone over the age of 16 and residing in the United Kingdom to take part.
4. Do I have to take part?
It is up to you to decide whether to take part. If you choose not to participate, you won't incur any penalties or lose any benefits to which you might have been entitled. If you do decide to take part, you will be asked to sign a consent form. Even after agreeing to take part, you can still withdraw at any time and without giving a reason, simply by closing your browser or contacting us to withdraw from the study at any time by contacting: national.conversation@demography.ox.ac.uk
5. What will happen if I take part in the research?
Should you choose to participate, you will first be asked to agree to the consent form. Then, you’ll be asked to provide your year of birth. Anyone under the age of 16 will be excluded from the study. You will then provide a valid United Kingdom postcode (e.g., OX1 1JD). After this, you be asked questions about your perceptions of your local area and the United Kingdom. Upon completion, you will be invited to answer some demographic questions (e.g., gender, ethnicity) and to indicate places you like or do not like in your local area. These demographic questions will help the research team understand differences in how people feel about their local area. The questionnaire should take around 10-15 minutes to complete.
All survey responses will be collected without your name or other identifying details. At the end of the survey, you may choose to provide your email address if you would like to receive updates about the study results. You do not need to do this to participate, but if you provide an email address, it will be stored separately from your survey responses. A secure linking code will be used so that researchers can send you updates, but only a small number of authorised members of the research team will be able to access this link. Technically speaking, this means that your responses will be stored in a pseudonymised form (this means they are linked to a code rather than directly to your name or email). Your email address will not be shared outside the research team.
6. What are the possible disadvantages and risks in taking part?
There will likely be no disadvantages to taking part. If, however, you are made to feel uncomfortable by any of the questions asked, you are not obliged to answer and given the option to state that you prefer not to answer.
7. Are there any benefits in taking part?
There will be no direct or personal benefit to you from taking part in this research. Your answers will help researchers better understand community and social cohesion across the United Kingdom.
8. What information will be collected and why is the collection of this information relevant for achieving the research objectives?
We are interested in your perceptions of cohesion and unity in your community and the United Kingdom. We will collect your answers to questions of this nature, and your year of birth, postcode, and any demographic information you provide us with (sex, ethnicity, religion, employment status). If you choose to use the feature, we will also collect audio recordings of your answers via voice notes.
To ensure the survey functions securely, we also collect strictly necessary technical metadata, including timestamps, a secure "hashed" IP address, and browser information. With your explicit consent, we may also collect referral and analytics data (such as which website directed you to our survey) to help us understand participation bias.
We will use the information from you for this research project. We will never directly share your data with others except for those who need to process the data which includes: research collaborators within our own organisation and third parties providing services (e.g., AWS and Postcodes.io for mapping/postcode routing, and Google Analytics for referral tracking). People will use this information to do the research or to check your records to make sure that the research is being done properly.
We will keep all information about you safe and secure by storing data in a secure environment with relevant governance frameworks in place, limiting access to essential personnel only. While your core survey responses are stored securely in the UK, please note that if you consent to referral tracking, analytical data processed by Google may be transferred to servers outside the UK (such as the US). We rely on legally approved data transfer mechanisms to ensure this data remains protected.
If you would like to receive information about the results of the study, you will be invited to share your email address with researchers at the end of the survey. This information will be stored separately from your survey answers with a secure linking code used so that researchers can send you updates, but only a small number of authorised members of the research team will be able to access this link.
Your data will be retained for as long as necessary for the purposes of this research and related academic outputs. In line with UK GDPR and University policy, research data may be kept for an extended period to allow for verification of findings, further research, or audit requirements.
9. Will the research be published? Could I be identified from any publications or other research outputs?
The findings from this study will be presented at academic conferences, written in academic papers for publication in journals, and be communicated in various forms (written, oral or visual) for public consumption via the media. All results will be aggregated and anonymised, and at no point will any individual be identifiable from any report or publication. An exception to this is if you have included a voice note as part of the study and consented for it to be used and played as part of the results. In this case, it may be possible that you are identifiable via this method.
10. Data Protection
The University of Oxford is the data controller with respect to your personal data, and as such will determine how your personal data is used in the research. The University will process your personal data for the purpose of the research outlined above. Research is a task that is performed in the public interest. Further information about your rights with respect to your personal data is available from the University’s Information Compliance website at https://compliance.admin.ox.ac.uk/individual-rights. For full details on how we handle tracking technologies and personal data, please see our Privacy & Cookies Policy.
11. Who is funding the research?
Funding for this study has been provided by Nuffield College, the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science (Leverhulme Trust Large Centre Grant RC-2018-003), ESRC/UKRI Connecting Generations (ES/W002116/1) (awarded to M.C. Mills) and the Social Fund of Global Initiative. The funders had no role in the design of the study; the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; the writing of the results; or the decision to submit the findings for publication.
12. Who has reviewed this research?
This research has received favourable opinion from a subcommittee of the University of Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee (ID 2799856).
13. Who do I contact if I have a concern about the research or I wish to complain?
If you have a concern about any aspect of this research, please contact the research team at national.conversation@demography.ox.ac.uk and we will do our best to answer your query. We will acknowledge your concern within 10 working days and give you an indication of how it will be dealt with. If you remain unhappy or wish to make a formal complaint, please contact the University of Oxford Research Governance, Ethics & Assurance (RGEA) team at rgea.complaints@admin.ox.ac.uk or on +44 (0)1865 616480.
14. Further Information and Contact Details
This study is run by the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, Nuffield Department of Population Health and Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. The central researchers running this study are Professor Melinda Mills, MBE, FBA, Dr. Andrea Tilstra, Dr. Morten Thomsen and Sai Campbell. If you would like to discuss the research with someone beforehand (or if you have questions afterwards), please contact us at: national.conversation@demography.ox.ac.uk.