A conspiracy theory is a theory that provides an alternative
explanation to the established understanding of a historical or current
event. Often, it is claimed that this event is the result of conscious
manipulations by individuals or secretive powers. Due to our incomplete
knowledge about the world, it can usually not ultimately be decided which
explanatory model is more true - the established understanding of an event
or the respective conspiracy theory.
Thank you for your interest in our research. What it is about...
Conspiracy theories are part of our everyday lives - circulated through
direct discussions with others, newspapers and magazines, TV, the Internet,
and other media. People either believe in them or reject them. As the above
definiton states: in the end, there is usually no way to decide whether a
conspiracy theory is true or false. People who endorse a conspiracy theory
could be right or wrong - as could anybody else for that matter.
In this short questionnaire, we are interested in the extent to which you
personally believe in conspiracy theories. At the end
of the questionnaire you will have a possibility to see your personal
average score and compare your endorsement of conspiracy theories with
other respondents to this questionnaire.
For your protection, the researchers have obtained ethical approval for
this study from the Ethics Committee of the School of Psychology at Cardiff University, UK,
where this research is based.
If you have questions or concerns about any aspect of this project or its
technical operation, please e-mail Martin Bruder
(wipfelhauch‑studies@yahoo.de). If you have
specific ethical concerns about this study or questions about your rights
as a participant, you may also contact Prof Antony
Manstead (MansteadA@cf.ac.uk), the
supervisor in charge of this project.
Clicking the start-button below is evidence that you have read and
understood the following and agree to it:
- your participation in the study will involve answering a questionnaire
on conspiracy theories. Completion will take approx. 10 minutes.
- your participation is entirely voluntary, you may refuse to answer
any of the questions, and you can withdraw from the study at any time
without penalty or loss of privilege.
- you must be 18 years or older to participate.
- the information provided by you will be held totally anonymously
and you will not be identified in any presentation or publication
of this research. It will be impossible to trace your data back to
you individually. In accordance with the UK Data Protection Act,
this information may be retained indefinitely.
- although your data will be anonymous, you should note that this
study is not being run from a "secure" https-server of the kind
typically used to handle credit card transactions. This means that
there is a small possibility that responses could be viewed by
unauthorised third parties.
- many individuals find participation in this study interesting
and there are no foreseeable risks associated with your participation.
At the end of the study you will be provided with additional
information and you may choose to view your personal results.
Some questions about yourself...
We would first like to ask you for
some information that we will need to properly
analyse your data. Answering these questions will not compromise the
anonymity of your data.
Your gender:
Your age:
Your occupation:
Your highest degree:
Your country of residence:
Your native language:
If English is not your native language, please indicate your command
of English:
poor
fair
good
excellent
(English is my native
language)
If you agree to the above and would like to participate, please click the
start-button.
|