Young People and the Jersey Election

We would like to invite you to participate in a survey, which forms part of this research project. Before you decide whether you want to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what your participation will involve.

Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish. Ask me if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.

What is the purpose of the project?

The purpose of the project is to evaluate whether participating in lessons about the Jersey election and/or attending a political candidate fayre has an impact on young people’s beliefs and political behaviour.

Why have I been invited to take part?

You are being invited to participate in this project because you are enrolled in a school in Jersey that has elected to take part in this research.

What will happen if I take part?

If you choose to take part, you will be asked to complete an online survey. The survey will take no more than 5 minutes to complete. You will be asked demographic questions about your gender and ethnicity, questions about your level of interest in politics, your confidence in participating in politics, and whether or not you vote. We are asking these questions because we want to find out how young people are thinking about the upcoming election and about political participation generally.

Questions you will be asked include:

How interested would you say you are in politics?
How much would you say the political system in Jersey allows people like you to have a say in what the government does?

We will also ask questions about some more sensitive topics, including whether you have experienced domestic abuse, whether you have been in care, and whether you have financial debts.

Are there any incentives to take part?

No, there are no incentives to take part.

Do I have to take part?

Participation is completely voluntary. You should only take part if you want to and choosing not to take part will not disadvantage you in any way. If you decide to take part, simply complete the survey that follows and click Submit at the end. If you decide part-way that you no longer want to take part, simply end the survey without submitting, and any data you have provided will not be collected or analysed.

What are the possible risks of taking part?

We are collecting your school, gender, and ethnicity as part of this survey. Due to this, there is a small risk that a participant may be identifiable in our dataset if they are a member of a highly underrepresented ethnicity at their school. To mitigate this risk, only members of the research team will have access to the dataset. When reports are published, no individual will be identified or identifiable.
We have carefully considered whether there is risk involved in completing this survey, and we believe it is minimal.

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

Completing a survey will not impact your grades or anything else related to your school. You should only take part if you want to help us understand more about political interest and participation in Jersey.

Data handling and confidentiality

Kings College London is the main sponsor of this research and is responsible for looking after your information.

We will need to use the information you provide for this research project. The research team and authorised administrative staff will use this information to do the research or to check your records to make sure that the research is being done properly.

Your data will be processed in compliance with UK data protection laws, including the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. The data will be held securely on a King’s College London server, and only staff working directly on the project will be able to access it. Your data will not be shared outside of King’s College London.

The research will end on 31^st August 2026. After this point, your data will be securely held in King’s SharePoint for five years, after which it will be destroyed. Only approved researchers can access the SharePoint, and they won’t be able to use the data to identify individual people. All data will be anonymous in research outputs (e.g. reports, academic papers).

Further information on how King’s processes research data can be found at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/support/research-ethics/kings-college-london-statement-on-use-of-personal-data-in-research

Please contact the research team if you require further information on data processing or a printed version of the webpage link above.

What if I change my mind about taking part?

While you are going through the survey, you can withdraw from it by closing your browser window. After you submit the survey, it will not be possible to withdraw your data after the survey has been submitted, because the data are anonymous.

If you choose to withdraw from the project, we will not retain the information you have provided.

What will happen to the results of the project?

The results of the project will be summarised in a report published by King’s College London, and may be published in other formats such as blog posts or academic publications. You will not be identified or identifiable in any reports we do on the project.

Whom should I contact for further information?

If you have any questions or require more information about this project, please contact Julia Ellingwood, at:

Email: julia.ellingwood@kcl.ac.uk

Phone: 020 784 80814

Address: The Policy Institute, King’s College London, Melbourne House, 44-46 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4LL

What if I have further questions, or if something goes wrong?

If this project has harmed you in any way, or if you wish to make a complaint about the conduct of the project you can contact King’s College London using the details below for further advice and information:

The Chair, SSHL RESC, rec@kcl.ac.uk

Thank you for reading this information sheet and for considering taking part in this research.