focus group consent script

Appendix E: Focus Group Consent Script

Abt Associates and its partner, Education Development Center (EDC), are conducting an evaluation of NASA’s Summer of Innovation. As part of this study, we are collecting data from the ten national awardees to learn about the plans for implementation of the upcoming SoI activities. Awardees’ staff and partners will be asked to participate in focus groups once in spring 2011 and again in fall 2011.

The evaluation of NASA’s SoI Project will provide insight into this year’s implementation and the feasibility of NASA’s SoI requirements and appropriateness of NASA’s training and support of the activities. The approach will allow NASA to document the implementation of the SoI activities across the awardees to better understand what worked and what did not during FY2011. The results of this evaluation are intended to ultimately inform future decisions about programmatic requirements and supports.

We will be taking notes during our conversation to ensure accuracy and we would like to audio-tape this conversation, with your permission. Your responses will be used to examine the implementation of SoI activities. No individuals will be identified by name. If you have any further questions that we may not be able to answer about this evaluation or this conversation, please contact Teresa Doksum, Abt Associates’ Institutional Review Board Administrator, at (617) 349-2896, or Hilary Rhodes, the Abt project director of this study at (617) 520-3516. Please note these are toll calls.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration – Summer of Innovation Appendix E-2