Survey Cover Letter

Date
[First] [Last]
[Address 1]
[Address 2]
[City], [State] [Zip]
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) has engaged Indiana
University (IU) to survey participants’ satisfaction with the agency’s settlement procedures and
outcomes. As a recent participant in OSHRC’s conventional proceedings, your opinion is very
valuable to the study for comparing your experience to those who have participated in OSHRC’s
Settlement Part Program.
We designed the survey to take as little of your time as possible. It consists of 20 questions that we
believe target very important information about your settlement experience. We have also provided
you space at the end of the survey to share any additional information about your experience in the
program. The survey is completely voluntary. If you decide not to participate in the study, there will
not be any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are entitled. Your decision whether or not to
participate in this study will not affect your current or future relations with OSHRC or Indiana
University.
We have and will continue to make efforts to keep your personal information confidential. We will
hold your identity in confidence in reports and publications. We will not report names in any study
produced by Indiana University. We will restrict access to survey files to no more than 3 researchers
under the supervision of the co-principal investigators (Indiana University Professor Lisa Blomgren
Bingham and Assistant Professor Deanna Malatesta) during the course of the study. When we
receive the survey back, we will code them to replace any names with numbers so there will be no
way to personally connect you to your responses or comments. We will destroy surveys once we
have recorded the aggregate information. We will destroy all related notes upon completion of the
study, which we expect to take less than one (1) year. Your personal information may be disclosed if
required by law. State and federal agencies (as allowed by law) and the Indiana University
Institutional Review Board (specifically the Office for Human Research Protections, OHRP) may
inspect records in the survey but only for the purpose of assuring the researchers are complying with
ethical standards and they will not inspect study records to obtain any personal information about
study participants or their responses.
We know that you are very busy but hope that you take the time to complete the survey and to mail
it back within the next week. For your convenience, we have enclosed a postage paid envelope. If
you have any questions about the survey, please contact me, Deanna Malatesta either by telephone at
(317) 274-0876 or by email at [email protected]. I am the Co-Principal Investigator for the study.
For questions about your rights as a research participant or to discuss problems, complaints or
concerns about a research study, or to obtain information, or offer input, contact the IU Human
Subjects Office at (317) 278-3458 or (800) 696-2949.
Thank you in advance for your participation in this very important study.
Deanna Malatesta
Assistant Professor