I am Rowan Ogeil, a PhD student from the School of Psychology, Psychiatry & Psychological Medicine at Monash University. My research is being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Jillian Broadbear and Dr. Shantha Rajaratnam.
My research considers whether the social drugs alcohol, cannabis (marijuana) and ecstasy (MDMA) affect body systems that are under circadian control (follow a repeating pattern every 24 hours), both in the short and longer term. These systems control hormone release, temperature, sleep and daily activity. My research aim is to identify whether these biological systems may be affected by social drug use, which will tell us more about how these drugs change the way our minds and bodies function.
For this project I am seeking English-speaking people who are over 18 and have used at least one of the drugs - alcohol, cannabis (‘pot’, marijuana) or Ecstasy in their lives. Participation involves the completion of an on-line questionnaire, which will take approximately 30 minutes, and can be completed in your own time from any device that has access to the Internet.
It is important that your participation be voluntary and that you understand that you are free to discontinue participation at any time, and for any reason. However, if you do consent to participate, you may only withdraw prior to the questionnaire being submitted. Furthermore, your participation in this research project is anonymous and any answers that you provide will only be identified by a coded number and not a name. The data collected from this study will be retained in a secure location for 5 years and will then be deleted. Only averaged results will be reported (e.g. in a journal article or scientific meeting presentation), and no information that could be used to identify an individual participant will be collected or released.
If you have any queries about the project please contact either Dr. Jillian Broadbear (Jillian.Broadbear@med.monash.edu.au) or Rowan Ogeil (Rowan.Ogeil@med.monash.edu.au). If you would like details of final averaged results, they will be available on the following web-site: http://coldfusion.its.monash.edu.au/med/spppm/questionnaires/rogeil2/results after data collection has been completed (around July 2008).
It is important that you understand that we will not be able to identify you or contact you after you have completed the questionnaire. So, if you feel that you need help with any drug or alcohol problem, or would like further information regarding drugs or alcohol please contact one of the following resources:
Should you have any complaint concerning the manner in which this research (project number (2007/1849) is conducted, please do not hesitate to contact The Standing Committee on Ethics in Research Involving Humans at the following address: Human Ethics Officer Tel: +61 3 9905 2052 |
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Rowan Ogeil.