Participating

Most people's participation will only involve a survey

If you elect to participate in the survey, you will be asked to supply an email at the end. If you supply an email, you may be invited to participate in additional research. This additional research is voluntary and there is no obligation to participate.

What's involved if you're invited to participate in additional research

Individual accounts of interaction with self-driving are important in understanding their impacts on vulnerable road users. As someone that can interact with a self-driving vehicle in your everyday life, you have a unique perspecitive. By sharing your perspective, it can help to better understand what self-driving vehicles could mean for people like you and for cities around the world.

Focus Groups, Calls, and/or Interviews

If you're invited to participate in a focus group, call, and/or interview you will have the chance to join a small group of 5-10 people or 1-on-1 conversation in an informal setting. This is an opportunity for me to better understand how people like you will be impacted by autonomous vehicles while cycling and provide an open forum for free-flowing discussion. I will be present to listen, facilitate, and guide discussion. As a researcher, I am primarily there to listen and take note of the information that is discussed. The identity of participants always remains anonymous.

Ride-alongs

If you're invited for a ride-along interview, don't worry, these aren't interviews like those with a journalist or for a future employer! After all, we'll be walking and biking while having a discussion. These are open conversations where we chat about overarching themes related to the project. There are no set questions, and you can share as much or as little as you're comfortable with.

You're in control of how our conversation unfolds.

• Our cycle will be on a set route; if there are parts you're uncomfortable with, we can skip them
• Expect it to take no longer than 30mins, but if you need more time that's okay too
• I'm likely a stranger to you. If you would prefer to discuss details or get acquainted over the phone beforehand, I am happy to do that before we meet in-person

How the ride-along works

Before

When you agree, we'll set up a date, time, and location. Leading up to the interview, you can reschedule to best suit your needs or have a brief phone conversation so we can get to know one another.

During

At the ride-along interview, I'll kick-off by asking you a series of consent questions. These are required under the research ethics code of conduct and by Trinity College. A record needs to be kept of this, so I will either record verbal consent or take a written note. I may also ask for your consent to take an audio recording of our conversation. It's your choice if it gets recorded, but it helps to keep information accurate and for data analysis. I may also take notes to help me remember what you share with me. Your identity is always removed from the final result so any contributions you make are anonymous. Any voice recordings are for processing only and won't be included in the final product-- they will be securely deleted once they're processed.

After

Once we're finished, I'll type-up any notes that I take and transcibe audio recordings (if applicable). The transcription will then be shared with you to look over to make sure everything is properly captured from our conversation. During this time, you can contact me with any questions that may arise. If something isn't clear, I'll contact you for more information, but you're not obliged to share more if you don't want to.

Information Security, Privacy, and GDPR

Keeping what you share safe

Your verbal or written consent, notes taken on your interview (where applicable), original audio recordings of your interview (where applicable), and transcripts of any recordings relating to you will be kept in a secure location in Trinity College Dublin or in secure digital storage until the expiration of the data retention period (normally 10 years after the end of the project), after which they will be safely destroyed (deleted and/or destroyed). The study is being conducted in line with Irish freedom of information legislation and GDPR – you're entitled to access the information you have provided at any time while it's in storage (as specified above) using your Interview Reference (where applicable). You are also free to contact any of the researchers involved in the research at any time to seek further clarification and information.

Data will be stored and destroyed in line with relevant legislation and rules during the research, including GDPR. When identifying data is deemed necessary, identifiers (such as email addresses) will be anonymized and hashed. Identifiers not necessary for research will not be collected or will be destroyed once hashed. Data will be stored and encrypted digitally in Trinity-supplied Google Drive secured using complex credentials and two-factor authentication. Transcription will be carried out in a private space. All personal identification will be removed or changed during transcription.

Occasionally, interviews will be audio recorded (with your consent) and later transcribed by a professional verified transcription service. In the case of virtual interviews, the interview will be recorded (where consented), and the audio will be extracted for transcription. Personal identifiers (e.g., names) will be replaced during the transcription process, and an agreed pseudonymization protocol applied.