I just realized that I hadn’t provided you with the examples I’d promised of some Informed Consent forms.

Here are some sample Informed Consent forms, which were provided to me some time ago by Bruce Fraser (SED). These are not specific to studies in Linguistics, but it gives you the idea of what they say.

The main points to observe is that the form tells the study participant (a) what the (general) purpose of the study is, (b) the nature of the participation requested (e.g., filling out a questionnaire about sentences) and how long it should take, (c) that participation is voluntary and that s/he can choose to leave the study, (d) the level of risk posed by participating (here, there is little to no risk), (e) a statement that the identity of the participants will remain confidential. The signature from the participant confirms that these points have been understood.

This is something that you need to provide whenever you do a study with human subjects, although obviously in many fields of science the risks participants might face will be greater. Let me know if you have any questions about this part of the project.