JULY 4TH DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE SURVEY
Thank you for finding my July 4th Declaration of Independence survey “Self-Evident Truths: Do American Adults Agree With the Ideas in the Declaration of Independence?”
HUMAN INFORMED CONSENT INFORMATION
Student Researcher: Maria Christine Watkins (age 17)
High School: Upland High
Title of Project: “Self-Evident Truths: Do American Adults Agree With the Ideas in the Declaration of Independence?”
Purpose of Project: The purpose of my project is to learn from American adults whether they agree with the ideas in the Declaration of Independence. I’m a high school student who is depressed by what seems like a civil war between American adults. Despite all the fighting, I predict that my research will show that adults mostly agree on the core ideas of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, etc., that we celebrate every July 4th. I’m also trying to figure out the best way to achieve happiness. Is it through pursuing money, fame, pleasure, purpose, meaning, faith, or ___? Another goal of this survey is to learn whether we can give up God and still find meaning in the idea that humans are specially created with unalienable rights, or whether God is necessary for our rights to be secure? This survey is part of my project at saveyourtruth.life to help young people like me learn how to live a meaningful life.
Questions Asked: If you participate in the survey, I will ask you to answer 31 questions about life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and other ideas in the Declaration of Independence. At the end of the survey, I will also ask you to consider joining saveyourtruth.life to help me save the life stories and wisdom of adults aged 50+. 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 31 questions of the survey in as little as 5 minutes. However, please plan to spend between 10-15 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.
Potential Risks of Study: I do not believe my survey questions will harm you in any way. There is always a possibility that when you reflect on the ideas in the Declaration of Independence you might become anxious and experience some psychological stress if you realize that our rights are not as obvious as you expected. However, I believe it is good and healthy to reflect on your beliefs and to tolerate some mental distress in order to share your ideas and wisdom with the younger generation so we can get the most out of life. If you believe that you cannot handle anxiety or some psychological stress, please do not take this survey.
Benefits of Project: As a country, it’s necessary to figure out what we value, think, and believe in order to make informed decisions about how we should organize society and live our lives. In the case of disagreement, it is important to discover what each side thinks and why. However, it is also important to recognize beliefs which are agreed upon and help tie us together as a country. Since our country’s founding, pursuing happiness has been an important part of life. One benefit of this survey is to make progress on finding the best ways to achieve happiness. Belief in God has also been a part of our country since the beginning, though research suggests that religious belief is in rapid decline. Another benefit of this project is to learn whether we can give up God and still find meaning in the idea that humans are specially created with unalienable rights.
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 story of anyone you many know who is 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 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 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 JULY 4TH SURVEY” 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.