Dear Resident,
My name is Yu Huang, and I am a PhD student at the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. School of Planning Professors Dr. Dawn Parker and Dr. Jeff Casello are conducting two research projects to examine the relationships between land markets, land-use change, and transportation. As part of the studies, we are conducting surveys with recent home buyers and sellers in Kitchener-Waterloo to explore household preference and behavior during the home buying and selling process. I will be conducting the surveys under the professors’ supervision.
We are inviting you to participate in our survey as you are a recent home buyer, home seller, or possibly both. Your opinions will be of great value to our study. The survey contains two sections, one to ask your home buying experience and the other to ask your home selling experience. Each section is expected to take about 20-25 minutes to complete. You may decline to answer any questions, and you can withdraw from the survey at any time. Participation in this survey is entirely voluntary, and there are no known or anticipated risks. In appreciation of your time commitment, we will send you a 20-dollar gift card after your completion (you can choose either an Amazon or a Home Hardware e-Gift Card; the gift cards are available to the first 500 respondents; we will post a notice on the survey website when the gift cards are no longer available). If you are both a home buyer and a home seller, you will get two gift cards after completing both sections of the survey
If you are interested in participating the online survey, please visit the home buyer/seller survey website hosted via FluidSurveysTM[1]; If you prefer the paper survey, please contact me at yu.huang@uwaterloo.ca or leave a message at 519-888-4567 x31545 to inform me your mailing address, and I will send you the paper survey package with a stamped return envelope. Any family member can assist to fill out the survey, but each household can only participate once. If you would like additional information to assist you in reaching a decision, please do not hesitate to contact myself or Dr. Dawn Parker or Dr. Jeff Casello by email or telephone as noted below. This study has been reviewed by and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee (ORE#19555). If you have questions for the Committee contact the Chief Ethics Officer, Office of Research Ethics, at 1-519-888-4567 ext. 36005 or ore-ceo@uwaterloo.ca. The final decision about participation is yours. Thank you very much for your attention, and we greatly appreciate your efforts in the survey.
Sincerely,
Yu Huang, PhD student, School of Planning, University of Waterloo
yu.huang@uwaterloo.ca, 519-888-4567 x31545
Dawn Parker, Professor, School of Planning, University of Waterloo
dcparker@uwaterloo.ca, 519-888-4567 x38888
Jeff Casello, Professor, School of Planning, University of Waterloo
jcasello@uwaterloo.ca, 519-888-4567 x37538
[1]When information is transmitted over the internet confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. University of Waterloo practices are to turn off functions that collect machine identifiers such as IP addresses. The host of the system collecting the data such as Survey Monkey may collect this information without our knowledge and make this accessible to us. We will not use or save this information without your consent. If you prefer not to submit your survey responses through this host, please contact myself at yu.huang@uwaterloo.ca or leave a message at 519-888-4567 x31545 so you can participate using the paper-based questionnaire. The alternate method may decrease anonymity but confidentiality will be maintained. Alternatively, you can choose not to sign up for the study.
