“Living A Meaningful Life: Do Human Adults Age 50+ Agree On Big Life Questions?”
Before I show you my survey questions, the rules of research require me to give you information about my project in the Human Informed Consent below. The link to view the survey questions appears at the bottom of this information.
HUMAN INFORMED CONSENT INFORMATION
Student Researcher: Maria Christine Watkins (age 17)
High School: Upland High
Title of Project: “Living A Meaningful Life: Do Human Adults Age 50+ Agree On Big Life Questions?”
Purpose of Project: The purpose of my project is to learn from adults age 50+ how to live a meaningful life by getting answers to important life questions. I designed my project to bring some good out of the tragedy of the COVID pandemic. Instead of just helplessly hearing about people losing their lives to COVID and other causes of death, I want to save their wisdom. I also believe that if I can learn from people aged 50+ what makes life worth living, I will make a big contribution to the fight against depression and help to improve mental health. This survey is part of my larger plan to use saveyourtruth.life to save the wisdom of older adults everywhere so young people like me can learn how to get the most out of life.
Questions Asked: If you participate in the survey, I will ask you to answer 30 questions about happiness, success, purpose, meaning, science, being human, love, God, death and other life matters I believe are important to get the most out of life. At the end of the survey, I will ask you to suggest other important life questions that you believe young people need to answer. I will also ask you to consider joining saveyourtruth.life to work with me to save your life story and wisdom for the benefit of young people in your family, young people in your community and young people everywhere else. Joining saveyourtruth.life is completely optional, and I welcome your survey responses even if you choose not to join the ongoing project.
Time Required: You should be able to answer all 30 questions of the survey in as little as 5 minutes. However, please plan to spend between 15-30 minutes to really answer the questions as thoughtfully and as truthfully as possible. Being thoughtful and truthful are important because young people may rely on your answers to make decisions about how we live our lives. In addition to answering the multiple choice questions, I would really appreciate if you spent time sharing your thoughts about the questions, and also suggesting more questions about how to get the most out of life.
Potential Risks of Study: I do not believe my survey questions will harm you in any way. Reflecting on purpose, meaning, love, God, death, etc., are normal, healthy parts of every day life, so the survey is not especially risky. There is always a possibility that when you reflect on your life you may have sad memories, discomfort, regrets or some psychological stress. But these feelings are a normal part of life; and I believe it is good to reflect on your life, tolerate some discomfort, and share your experiences and wisdom with the younger generation so we can get the most out of life. If you believe that you cannot handle sad memories, discomfort, regrets or some psychological stress, please do not take this survey.
Benefits of Project: In every state and city in America, my project is designed to benefit both older people who participate in the project as well as younger people like me who learn from the project. Older people who participate in the project will get to share their wisdom knowing that they can help younger people to learn from them, avoid mistakes and get the most out of life. I also believe that if I can learn from people aged 50+ what makes life worth living, I will make a big contribution to the fight against depression and help to improve mental health.
Use of Survey Data: After gathering and analyzing survey data, I will use it to participate in one or more science fairs. The results will also be presented in charts and graphs on this page or elsewhere on this website, saveyourtruth.life. Since one of my main goals of the project is to help young people like me learn from older adults how to get the most out of life, I will try to make the data available in any and all media where young people can be reached. In each city where at least 100 residents complete the survey, anonymous survey data specific to the city will be shared with the city government and school district in that city. (This is part of my plan to create a culture in every city where the older generation routinely shares wisdom with the younger generation.)
Confidentiality: You may complete the survey questions anonymously. You are not required to give your name, phone, email or any way to identify you. However, I do hope that you will voluntarily give me contact information and allow me to contact you about working with me to save your life story or the life stories of other people aged 50+. All information is collected with encryption over HTTPS and I will do my best to keep your contact information secure on password protected computers. But the reality of the internet is that bad people sometimes break the law and take information that they should not. Even governments and big companies get hacked by bad people. So, you agree to not sue me if bad people behave badly. Thanks.
Adult Sponsor: If you have any questions about my project that you believe requires an adult to respond, please contact my dad Wain Watkins at [email protected].
Voluntary Participation: “Participation in this study is completely voluntary. If you decide not to participate there will not be negative consequences. Please be aware that if you decide to participate, you may stop participating at any time and you may decide not to answer any specific question.” (Human Informed Consent Form, International Rules: Guidelines for Science and Engineering Fairs 2020-2021.) If you don’t want to answer a specific question, please choose “I don’t want to answer this question.” If you are comfortable, please consider telling me why you don’t want to answer that question in the text area that appears. While your participation is completely voluntary, my hope is that you will join me in bringing some good out of the COVID pandemic by sharing your wisdom for the benefit of young people in your family, young people in your city and young people across America. Thank you.
By clicking the “VIEW SCIENCE FAIR QUESTIONS” button below, you are agreeing that you have read the Human Informed Consent information and that you consent to do the survey. On behalf of young people everywhere, thank you.
Hi,
I hope you are having a good day.
My science fair days are over. I am grateful to the hundreds of people who gave me their precious time to complete my survey and share life lessons.
In June 2022 I will transition from a high school student to a high school graduate, so I will no longer be doing science fairs. However, I will continue my research to solve the puzzles of what makes life worth living and how to live a meaningful life.
My research results will be shared on this website and may also be published in scientific journals and other media. If you would like to share life lessons or work with me, please send me an email.