Facebook Photo Provider Consent Form: Income Inequality and Status Project

Please consider this information carefully before deciding whether to participate in this research.
Purpose of the research: Nate Wilmers and Tom Wooten, graduate students in sociology at Harvard University,
are researching how income inequality in a place affects the ways people notice social class. They are running a
study in which peoples Facebook photos are shown to mTurk users. mTurk users are asked to guess the income,
education, and social class of people in the photos.
What you will do in this research: To provide your photos for use in this study, you will first complete a short
online tutorial that shows you how your photos will be used. You will then allow Nate and Tom to download 20 of
your Facebook photos by accepting a friend request from the Inequality Study Facebook account. Finally, you
will fill out a survey about your education, your income, and your social class. Your participation is voluntary, and
you may decline to participate or may withdraw without any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise
entitled.
How your information will be used: Nate and Tom will download 20 of your pictures and save them on a secure
server. They will show 10 of these photos to mTurk users around the country. They will obscure all of the faces in
the photos other than yours. They will not include your photographs in any article or publication.
Compensation: You will receive a $10 payment through mTurk.
Other benefits: If you are interested, Nate and Tom will send you a final version of their research paper. Email
them, and they will send you a copy when it is ready.
Risks and possible discomforts: Your Facebook photos will be shown to hundreds of mTurk users. Though
unlikely, it is possible that an mTurk participant will know you. If there is content in your Facebook photos that
you would not want someone to see, then participating in this study could cause you harm. Also, mTurk users will
be judging your photos to guess your education, your income, and your social class. This idea could make you
uncomfortable. If you do not want to have your photos judged in this way, or if there is any content in your
Facebook photos that you do not want someone to see, do not take part in this research.
To Contact the Researchers: If you have questions or concerns about this research, please contact:
Tom Wooten and Nate Wilmers
Email:
Phone:
574 William James Hall
twooten@fas.harvard.edu
(617) 997-9430 - Tom
Cambridge, MA 02138
wilmers@fas.harvard.edu
(248) 219-4688 - Nate
You may also contact the faculty member supervising this work:
Chris Winship
Email:
620 William James Hall
cwinship@wjh.harvard.edu
33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Agreement: The nature and purpose of this research have been satisfactorily explained to me, and I have
completed the online tutorial that shows me how my Facebook photos will be used in this research. I agree to
become a participant in the study as described above. I understand that I am free to discontinue participation at
any time if I so choose by contacting Tom or Nate.
Signature: _____________________________________

Date: __________________

Name (print): _____________________________________

Whom to contact about your rights in this research, for questions, concerns, suggestions, or complaints that are not
being addressed by the researcher, or research-related harm: Committee on the Use of Human Subjects in Research at
Harvard University, 1414 Massachusetts Avenue, Second Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138. Phone: 617-496-2847
(CUHS). Email: cuhs@fas.harvard.edu.