You may not have the time to craft a story, but we would still love to hear from you. If you have a story about bullying (that you have experienced or observed) and you would prefer to be interviewed about the experience, please contact us on the “contact” button on the menu (right under the title) of our home page. Please let us know how to contact you and where you are in the world, so we can plan an appropriate time for the interview. Because our participants are widely spread across the world, most interviews will need to take place on Skype or by phone. Some face-to-face interviews may be possible, depending on location.
If you wish to tell the story of observing someone being bullied, we would request that you ask permission of that person before contacting us. Although observing bullying can rouse many difficult emotions, and is an aspect of bullying in the academy that we are very interested in, it is important that the person who was bullied not feel further victimized or feel that their story has been appropriated by someone else. So, please ask them first. And we suggest that once your transcript has been returned to you, you invite them to read it too: this is not required, but is a compassionate and respectful practice. They may, of course, choose not to read your story.
NOTE: the last date for requesting an interview is 31 December 2019.
Process
You can contact us to request an interview through the CONTACT page of this website. Let us know your location and whether you would like to do the interview by phone or by Skype. We will reply to your request within 10 days (earlier if possible).
We recognise that you need to be safe in providing an interview, and we are following a careful process to ensure your safety and protect your identity.
Interviews will be audio-recorded and we will not ask you to identify yourself or your institution by name on the recording. Instead, we will ask you to provide a pseudonym for the recording. Audio recordings will be transcribed, and then we will return the transcript to you for checking. Your audio file and transcript will be filed under your pseudonym, on a password protected secure website. A single spreadsheet, which only one of the researchers will have access to, will contain names and pseudonyms. We will destroy the spreadsheet, transcript and audio file after 5 years.
We ask that the interview not be conducted in your place of work, and that you ensure that you have someone nearby (e.g. in the same building) who can support you if you become distressed. We will check you are in a safe location and the presence of a support person before the interview begins. We will also remind you that we can stop or pause the interview at any time and that you can choose not to answer any of the questions we ask. If you have any concerns about process, please let us know.
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