Islands Researcher

Island connections focus group

As part of my research I am running a series of focus groups with people who have connections to Scotland’s islands. The information on this page is designed to help you understand whether you might like to take part in this research. The information on this page is also available as a downloadable focus group participant information sheet.

Participant information

Thanks for your interest in taking part in my research. This page provides you with you with information to help you decide whether you would like to take part in a focus group for my research into island connections and return migration. 

If you would like to hear more about opportunities to take part other areas of my islands research you can find out more and sign up for updates on the Take Part page.

Who am I and what am I doing?

My name is Kirsten and I am a PhD student in the Department of Geography, School of Geosciences at the University of Aberdeen. I would like to invite you to take part in my research project which includes exploring people’s connections to Scotland’s islands to look at if and how this might affect return migration.  Below is some information about the project to help you decide whether you would like to take part.

Participation in the research project is completely voluntary. You can withdraw from the project at any time without having to give a reason.

Project contact information

  • Principal Investigator: Kirsten Gow
  • University of Aberdeen supervisors: Professor Lorna Philip and Dr Paula Duffy
  • James Hutton Institute supervisors: Dr Ruth Wilson and Dr Mags Currie
  • Mail: Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, St Mary’s, King’s College, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF
  • Phone: 01224 27 3428 (School Administrator)
  • Email: geography@abdn.ac.uk

The aim of my research

The aim of this phase of my research is to understand more about people who feel that they have a connection to one or more Scottish islands, even though they don’t live on an island at the moment.

I am interested in speaking to people:

  • who grew up on an island, or
  • who have lived on an island as an adult, or
  • whose family come from an island, or
  • who have strong connections to an island or islands in other ways.

I want to understand more about how people maintain connections with the islands when living elsewhere. I also want to understand more about the reasons why people currently live off-island and whether or not people might like to return to live on the island they have connections with, or a different island, in the future.

This is the first stage of my research project. Further stages will include speaking to people with island connections who are actively planning to move to an island, and to others who have already made the move. The information I gather at each stage will be used to write research papers and a doctoral thesis looking at how people stay connected to islands and the how people with island connections might play a part in helping maintain and grow island populations in the future.

What you will be asked to do

If you choose to take part in a focus group you will join a small group of people with island connections to spend up to 2 hours discussing topics including: your life in the mainland; how you stay connected to your island; what these connections mean to you; and whether or not moving to the island is something that interests you in the future.

In-person and online focus groups are available and will be take place in locations and at times to suit as many participants as possible. The location of in-person focus groups will be determined by who is attending to ensure that the venue is accessible and reachable by public transport. Online focus groups will be held using a video conferencing platform. You will need to be able to join the online call with your camera and microphone on to allow you to properly participate in the session but you will not need to download any software to your device in order to take part. 

I will be making recordings of both in-person and online focus groups so that I can create transcripts of the sessions to help me with my research. The recordings will be stored securely and only accessed by the research team for the purposes of this research. When I create the transcripts I will remove your name and other identifying features. These transcripts will be used to analyse my research and write up my findings.

Risks

As a researcher I have a responsibility to protect anyone participating in my research. Because I am working with small communities I have designed my research to make sure that individual islands, and individual members of specific island communities, are not identifiable.  To do this, my work will focus on groupings of islands that share similar attributes using an ‘island typology’ developed for this research, rather than focusing on an individual island or geographical grouping of islands. 

Talking about your connections to an island, why you currently live off-island and whether you might like to move to an island in the future might be more difficult for some than others. You will not be asked to discuss anything you do not feel comfortable talking about.

You have the right to choose not to answer a question and / or to end your participation in the focus group at any time without being asked to give a reason. After the focus group has ended, you may withdraw from the research up until the point where the cleaned transcript has been uploaded to the analysis software. At this point any reference to your name or identifiable characteristics will have been removed. After this, you also have the right to request that you are not directly quoted in publications, though you should note that any quotes would be pseudonymised (i.e. you will have been given a new name and any identifiable information will have been removed).

Data management and storage

The raw data collected in this research will be stored on secure servers owned by the University of Aberdeen for a maximum of 10 years, after which it will be deleted.  Appropriately anonymised data may be stored in the university repository to help with future research in this area.  It will be managed in line with university policies designed to protect sensitive data, including the Data Protection Policy, Information Security Policy, and Research Data Management Policy and Guidance. 

The data collected in this research will be stored in password protected files held on secure servers owned and managed by the University of Aberdeen. If you have chosen to provide your contact details so we can inform you about opportunities to be involved in further research these will also be stored securely, but separated from other information collect in the focus group so that you cannot be identified as a participant. Your contact information will only be held for as long as is needed to contact you regarding further research stages. You may ask us to delete your contact details at any time by emailing k.gow.21@abdn.ac.uk.

Other raw data, such as recordings of focus groups, will be securely stored for the use of the research team for a maximum of 10 years, after which it will be deleted.  Appropriately anonymised data may be stored in the university repository to help with future research in this area.  All data will be managed in line with university policies designed to protect sensitive data, including the Data Protection Policy, Information Security Policy, and Research Data Management Policy and Guidance. 

Confidentiality and anonymity

Confidentiality and anonymity is important to us. The University’s Privacy Notice for Research Participants, which applies to this research, is available at: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/about/privacy/research-participants-938.php

Raw data and the identity of participants will not be shared with anyone outside the research team. The data you provide will be analysed and may be used in publications, dissertations, reports or presentations derived from the research project, but this will be done in such a way that your identity is not disclosed.

If you choose to provide a name and contact details so we can contact you about opportunities to take part in further research, this information will be stored separately from any other data gathered in the focus groups. Because I am working with small communities I have chosen to focus on groupings of islands that share similar attributes using an ‘island typology’ developed for the research, meaning that individual islands will not be identified. When research is published your contributions will be attributed to a grouping of islands to help make sure that people who read my research are unable to identify individuals who have taken part.

If you agree to take part in the research, you will be asked to indicate our consent by either signing a paper consent form (in-person focus groups) or ticking a box on an online consent form (online focus groups).

Sponsors

My PhD is funded by the Macaulay Development Trust and I am supervised by academic staff from both the University of Aberdeen and The James Hutton Institute.

Further information

Thank you for considering taking part in this research.

If you have any questions about this research, please contact Kirsten Gow on 07565286099 or at k.gow.21@abdn.ac.uk

You are also welcome to contact my lead supervisors for further information:

University of Aberdeen: Professor Lorna Philip – 01224 272358 / l.philip@abdn.ac.uk
James Hutton Institute: Dr Ruth Wilson – ruth.wilson@hutton.ac.uk

Ethics

For any queries regarding ethical concerns you may contact the Convener of the Physical Sciences & Engineering Ethics Board at the University of Aberdeen by emailing copsethics@abdn.ac.uk

This research project was approved by the Physical Sciences & Engineering Ethics Board on 14/10/2022.