Participate

My name is Benjamin Graham, PhD, and I am a faculty member of the Department of Political Science  and International Relations at the University of Southern California. I also hold a role as one of the  principal investigators of the Everyday Respect research project.  

Our team is conducting a research study to help us develop better tools for analyzing communication in  body worn video of police traffic stops and better understand how people from different backgrounds  vary in their perceptions of the same communication acts. The name of this research study is “Everyday  Respect: Variations in Annotator Perceptions of Communication During Motor Vehicle Stops.” We are seeking your participation in this study.  

Your participation is completely voluntary.  

You may be eligible to participate in this study if you meet the following criteria: 

1. You are at least 18 years old.
2. You are a resident of the United States.

If you decide to participate in this study, you will be asked to do the following activities: 

1. Complete an initial online questionnaire that will take 10-20 minutes.
2. Watch and evaluate bodyworn camera recordings from one or more police traffic stops. It is  entirely up to you how many videos you evaluate.
   1. The recordings you will be asked to watch may include shouting, cursing or the use of  force. Some viewers may find some elements of some videos disturbing.  
   2. You will be asked a series of questions about each video that include assessments of the  emotions and attitudes expressed by individuals, as well as questions about what  occurred during the interaction.  
   3. We expect that it will take 30-60 minutes per video to watch the video and record your responses – most videos are 5-20 minutes in length. 
   4. You may also be asked to read written summaries of the interaction you observed and  evaluate the quality of those summaries. 
   5. You may decline to watch or answer questions about any video you are not comfortable  with, you may skip any questions you are not comfortable with, and you may stop  participating in the study at any time you wish.
3. If you agree to participate in this study, your responses and evaluations will be compared with  those of other participants to observe similarities and variations in how people perceive  recorded police/public interactions.

As a token of appreciation for your effort, we will provide a a Visa gift card, from $50-$100, depending  on how many videos you evaluate. If you are a non-student and instead of or in addition to participating  as a “research participant” you would like to join our research team as a “Resource Employee: Video  Annotator,” please let us know and apply for that position.

Our team will publish the results in academic journals and present them at academic and practitioner oriented conferences. Participants will not be identified in the results. Our team will take all reasonable  measures to protect the security of all your personal information. All data will be de-identified prior to  any publication or presentations. We may share your data, in de-identified form, with other researchers  in the future. 

Please click here to fill out a short questionnaire if you are interested in participating in this study

If you have any questions about this study, please contact the research team at  everydayrespect@usc.edu. If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please  contact the University of Southern California Institutional Review Board at (323) 442-0114 or email  hrpp@usc.edu.