University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Information on the Snorkeling/Diving study

We are research psychologists and a snorkeler (Joanne Vining, University of Illinois at Urbana) and a scuba diver (Deborah Winter, Whitman College). Because of our own experiences, we have become interested in studying snorkeling and diving experiences. As a beginning, we are asking for help in identifying some of the important characteristics of underwater experience.

We would be very grateful for your answers to the questions found here. The questions are open-ended to provide you with the opportunity to tell us whatever you think is important -- for example, experiences, perceptions, feelings, who, where, what, etc.

Your participation in this research is strictly voluntary. You may refuse to answer any of the questions without penalty or simply stop at any time and choose not to submit your survey responses. When we receive your answers we will eliminate any identifying information before entering your answers in our database and your name will never be associated with your answers in reports of the results of this study. Your participation in this project should not involve risks beyond the relatively minor risk of re-experiencing negative emotions related to snorkeling or diving experiences. Please note that you must be 18 years of age or older to participate in this study. Completion and return of this questionnaire implies consent to participate in our study. You are welcome to print a copy of this document for your records.

If you have any questions or concerns you are welcome to contact either of us at jvining@uiuc.edu (217.333.6145) or winterd@whitman.edu (509.527-5123). You may also contact the University of Illinois Institutional Review Board at irb@uiuc.edu or 217.333.2670 with questions about research participants' rights. You are welcome to call collect if you identify yourself as a research participant.

Please answer the questions and click on the submit button when you are done. The time needed to answer the questions will vary depending on the length of your responses but should range between 5 and 20 minutes. If you wish, you may print the questions and send your answers to us at the following address:

Prof. Joanne Vining
University of Illinois
1201 S. Dorner Dr.
Urbana, IL USA 61801

Please feel free to send the link to this questionnaire to anyone you know who is interested in snorkeling or diving. Also, if you know of other listservs or clubs that might be interested, please let us know.

Thank you very much for your help with this exploratory study. You may send your responses to jvining@uiuc.edu by email or by mail to the address listed above, or by simply clicking the "submit" button. If you would like to see a summary of the results, please provide your email address on the appropriate box on the survey form. As we noted above, any identifying information will be removed from your response.

Click here to complete the survey.