Research Project: Teaching Psychology of Religion

Please spread the word about my new research project! With this we hope to answer some very basic questions about the Psychology of Religion course, and it is important that we have as many responses as possible from instructors. Here is the letter inviting participants to share their experiences with teaching psychology courses that deal with religion.
Thanks!

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Hello!

I am Michael Nielsen, a professor at Georgia Southern University, and I invite you to answer a few brief questions about the Psychology of Religion course for my research, "Describing the Psychology of Religion Course". To the best of my knowledge, no research has investigated such basic questions as how often is the course offered? Does the course fulfill a requirement, or is it an elective? To what extent does the course emphasize empirical research vs. theoretical positions regarding religion? This study is intended to address these basic questions, and I would greatly appreciate your participation.

Participation in this research involves answering a brief series of questions, found following this informed consent statement. Replying to these questions indicates your agreement to participate in the study. The questions concern the course as you teach it, and the students who enroll in it, and are not expected to prompt any discomfort. The primary anticipated benefit of participating in the study is the opportunity to describe your course to others, and to add to the discipline's knowledge about the various ways that the course is taught. You will have an opportunity to request a summary of the results, if you so choose. I expect to submit the results for publication so that others interested in the psychology of religion may benefit from this study.

The questions are brief, and are expected to take less than 15 minutes. Your responses will be kept on a password-protected computer, and results will be described only in summary form. Please be aware that email affords only limited assurance of confidentiality due to the technology of the Internet. You may leave any questions blank, if you wish, or decline to answer all questions.

Your participation is voluntary; there is no compensation or stipend for participating in this study. If you have questions about this study, please contact me; my contact information is located below. For questions concerning your rights as a research participant, contact Georgia Southern University Office of Research Services and Sponsored Programs at 912-478-0843.

If you agree to participate in this research, please indicate so by clicking this link to the questionnaire. Or, copy and paste this URL to your browser:
https://georgiasouthernpsych.us2.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_42yViW5PON2KtZG
This project has been reviewed and approved by the GSU Institutional Review Board under tracking number H12255.

Title of Project: Describing the Psychology of Religion Course
Principal Investigator: Michael Nielsen
Contact Information: P.O. Box 8041
Department of Psychology
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA 30460
912-478-5122
mnielsen[at]georgiasouthern.edu