You are invited to participate in a research study evaluating a short educational film about 
nonviolent civil resistance. If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to take a brief 
pre-test survey about your general knowledge and interest in civil resistance; you will be asked to 
watch a 97-second film; and then you will be asked to take a post-viewing survey about your 
subsequent knowledge and interest in civil resistance as well as specific feedback about the film. 

The entire research process will take no more than 15 minutes. By doing this research, I hope to 
learn about how better to communicate research findings about civil resistance to broader 
audiences.

There are very few risks to participation. Participation and responses are totally anonymous; our 
research team will not collect any identifying information about participants. The content of the 
film is neither graphic nor politically sensitive in most countries; however, in some countries 
(e.g. Iran, China, Russia, Venezuela, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Syria) the topic of civil 
resistance is politically sensitive. There is a very remote risk that an external party may identify 
that you participated in this survey by monitoring your computer’s IP address and linking it to 
our survey URL. Although we do not anticipate this to be a major concern for any of our 
participants, our research team has taken many steps to minimize these risks. Our survey will not 
store IP addresses, and we will encrypt all anonymous responses and store them on a secure, 
firewall-protected server with routine security checks. Our team at the University of Denver has 
taken every possible step to minimize detection and risk. 

Participating in this study is completely voluntary; there are no anticipated direct benefits to 
participation. Even if you decide to participate now, you may change your mind and stop at any 
time. You may choose not to answer any survey question, or you may stop your participation at 
any time and for any reason.

This study is funded by the University of Denver’s Public Good Fund, a research initiative 
designed to link the University’s researchers with community partners engaged in applied work 
related to the researcher’s work. In this case, this study is a partnership between Prof. Erica 
Chenoweth and Picture Alternatives, a nonprofit film production company dedicated to 
promoting alternatives to violence in all its forms.

If you have questions about this research study, you may contact Erica Chenoweth at 
pgfstudy@gmail.com or 303-871-4240. 

If you have any concerns or complaints about your treatment during the study, you may contact 
the Chair of the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects, at 303-871-
4015 or by emailing IRBChair@du.edu, or you may contact the Office for Research Compliance 
by emailing IRBAdmin@du.edu, calling 303-871-4050 or write to the University of Denver, 
Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-2121.
The University of Denver Institutional Review Board has determined that this study qualifies as 
exempt from full IRB oversight.

You may keep a copy of this form for your records.  Please check below if you understand and 
agree to the above. If you do not understand any part of the above statement, please ask the 
researcher any questions you have.

Agreement to participate in this study

I have read this document about the study.  I understand the possible risks and benefits of this 
study. I know that being in this study is voluntary and that I can stop participating at any time.  If 
I choose to be in this study I may print a copy of this consent form.