Join the study

Thank you for your interest in our research project. The purpose of this study is to learn about what kinds of online media people consume, and how changing the media to which they have access to affects them. If you decide to participate, we will ask you to install a Chrome extension called Intervenr for a limited amount of time (14-28 days), which will record selected content (images, text, or links) from sites you see on the web for the first half of the time, and afterwards will make some adjustment to this content you can see in your browser. No effort will be required on your part other than this installation and three brief 10 minute surveys.

Only the research team will have access to your data, and any results will be reported in aggregate across many participants. Your personal data will be mapped to an de-identified ID, and will be destroyed following the experiment. For your privacy, you will also have the option to remove any content (images, text, or links) of your choice from the data collection such that the researchers cannot see what content you viewed. This can be done by selecting and deleting the content on your homepage on intervenr.stanford.edu, or by contacting the researchers via email. The possible risks of this study are minimal. Though we cannot promise you will receive any direct benefits from this study, your answers may help us learn more about how people consume online media. Your part in this study will be handled in a confidential manner. Any reports or publications on this research will not identify you as being part of this study.

Participating in this research is up to you. If you begin the study, you may withdraw at any time, simply by uninstalling the extension. If you wish to withdraw, we would appreciate your following the instructions under the “Stop Participation” section of the Intervenr website before uninstalling the extension in order to send us feedback about why you are withdrawing. You also have the option to withdraw all data we collect from you at any time during the study.

We expect the study to run for 14-28 days, split into three phases of 1) onboarding/ installation, 2) midpoint survey, 3) final survey. Your active participation will be necessary to set up the tool at the beginning, and answer survey questions and uninstall the tool at the end. You will be compensated up to $5 for successful onboarding, and anticipate bonuses of up to $10 for further participation and completion of the midpoint and final surveys.

In the future, identifiers might be removed from identifiable private information and, after such removal, the information could be used for future research studies or distributed to another investigator for future research studies without additional informed consent from you. If you have questions or would like to know more you may contact the researchers at intervenr-research-study@seas.upenn.edu, the study lead Stephanie Wang at stephtw@seas.upenn.edu, or the PI Danaë Metaxa at metaxa@seas.upenn.edu. If you have any concerns, complaints, or questions about the research or your rights as a participant, please contact the University of Pennsylvania IRB to speak to someone independent of the research team at (215) 898-2614, or email at PROVOST-IRB@pobox.upenn.edu.

You may save or print a copy of this page for your records.

If you agree to participate, please click "Next". If you do not, please exit this webpage and do not continue any further. On the next page, you'll create an account with Intervenr using a Google login for security. Please select whichever Google account you'd like to use to log into Intervenr. We do not collect your name or email address associated to this Google account.