Research Participant Information and Consent Form

PROJECT TITLE: Dialects of the United States

INVESTIGATORS: Karthik Durvasula, Bethany Dickerson

PURPOSE: You are being asked to participate in a research study of speech production of your native language (American English). From this study, the investigators hope to learn more about important control characteristics of human speech production. Your participation in this study will take at most 10 minutes. If you are under 18, you cannot be in this study.

PROCEDURES: You will be presented with words/sentences in English, and asked to read them out in a normal/calm voice. Your voice will be recorded and later analyzed.

BENEFITS: You will not get financial compensation for your participation in this study.

POTENTIAL RISKS: There are no foreseeable risks associated with participation in this study.

CONFIDENTIALITY: The data for this project will be kept confidential. Only the investigators will have access to your data. Information about you will be kept confidential to the maximum extent allowable by law. The results of this study may be published or presented at professional meetings, but the identities of all research participants will remain anonymous.

FREEDOM TO WITHDRAW: Participation in this research project is completely voluntary. You have the right to ask questions, not answer specific questions and withdraw participation at any time without penalty.

COMPENSATION: You will not be compensated for participation in this study.

CONTACT: If you have concerns or questions about this study, please contact:



Dr. Karthik Durvasula

Assistant Professor of Linguistics

B-330 Wells Hall

Michigan State University

E-mail: durvasul@yahoo.com



If you have questions or concerns about your role and rights as a research participant, would like to obtain information or offer input, or would like to register a complaint about this study, you may contact, anonymously if you wish, the Michigan State University’s Human Research Protection Program at 517-355-2180, Fax 517-432-4503, or e-mail irb@msu.edu or regular mail at 207 Olds Hall, MSU, East Lansing, MI 48824.

Please take this survey on a PC, not on a mobile device.