You are invited to take part in this research project, which is called "Use of legumes in cooking and food preparation in Australia". You have been invited because we are seeking Australian participants aged 18 and over to complete a short online survey to find out more about the types of legumes used in cooking and food preparation in Australia.
This Participant Information Sheet tells you about the research project. It explains the processes involved with taking part. Knowing what is involved will help you decide if you want to take part in the research.
Please read this information carefully. Ask questions about anything that you don’t understand or want to know more about. Before deciding whether to take part, you might want to talk about it with a relative or friend. Participation in this research is voluntary. If you don’t wish to take part, you don’t have to.
If you decide you want to take part in the research project, you will be asked to tick the consent question box. By ticking the box below you are telling us that you understand what you have read, consent to take part in the research project and consent to the use of your information, as described.
This research is being conducted jointly by researchers at the University of South Australia and the University of the Sunshine Coast. The research team consists of Dr Nina Wilson and Dr Evangeline Mantzioris (University of South Australia), and Dr Anthony Villani (University of the Sunshine Coast).
Project Description: The Mediterranean diet is a well-known dietary pattern that involves eating a lot of plant-based foods, including wholegrains, vegetables and fruit, and smaller amounts of meat, dairy and sweets. Traditionally, the diet also includes eating a range of legumes (beans, peas, and lentils) and previous research into the Mediterranean diet has shown positive impacts on cardiovascular health when consuming this diet, including legumes. However, in Australia we know very little about the types of legumes consumed and used in cooking. This research is important because finding out more information about the use of legumes in Australia will help nutritionists and other health professionals to provide more accurate information and advice about their use. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to collect information on the legumes consumed and used in cooking and food preparation in Australian households and to understand more about the reasons why these legumes are chosen. Another purpose of this research is to investigate whether Australians adhere to the dietary principles of a Mediterranean Diet through their usual dietary intake.
Participation: For this research project, you will be asked to complete an anonymous online questionnaire that will take 10 minutes of your time. The questionnaire is split into three sections. The first section will ask 13 questions about you, including questions about your weight, height, ethnicity/background, postcode, education, and household income. These questions only require single answers using a tick box or by providing a written answer. The second section of the questionnaire asks 5 questions about the types of legumes you usually consume and use in your household and how often you use them. These questions can mostly be answered using a tick box or writing in your response. The third section will ask 14 short questions about the types of foods and beverages that you would normally consume during a normal day or week and only requires a singular tick box response.
Participation in any research project is voluntary. If you do not wish to take part, you do not have to. If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you may exit the questionnaire at any point and your responses will not be saved. You are free to decline to complete the survey or to withdraw from the study at any point while completing the survey, without affecting your relationship with the researchers or the University of South Australia or the University of the Sunshine Coast, either now or in the future. Once you submit your survey, however, we are unable to remove your response as it will be impossible to identify your completed survey. If you do choose to participate, but do not feel comfortable in answering specific questions in the survey, you are free to ignore these question(s) and continue with the remainder of the survey. Your decision to participate (or not), will in no way impact you.
Risks and Benefits: Completing the survey involves the disclosure of sensitive personal information including weight, height, medical conditions, annual household income, and dietary intake. If you experience distress as a result of completing this survey, please seek support by contacting Beyond Blue (https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/talk-to-a-counsellor; phone 1300 224 636) or SANE (https://www.sane.org/get-support; phone 1800 187 263).
There will be no clear benefit to you from your participation in this research, however your responses will be important for finding out more about the legumes consumed and used for cooking in Australian homes, which will be useful for nutritionists and clinicians to correctly inform others about the use of legumes in cooking and food preparation.
There will be no clear benefit to you from your participation in this research, however your responses will be important for finding out more about the legumes consumed and used for cooking in Australian homes, which will be useful for nutritionists and clinicians to correctly inform others about the use of legumes in cooking and food preparation.
Consent: By ticking the box on the consent form, you consent to the research team collecting and using information about/from you for the research project. Any information obtained in connection with this research project that can identify you will remain confidential. Information collected or used will be stored in a non-identifiable format at the University of South Australia and at the University of the Sunshine Coast and only the researchers listed below will have access to the data. Your information will only be used for the purpose of this research project and we will not ask for your name or any other individually identifiable information. Individuals' responses will be kept confidential by the researcher and will not be identified in the reporting of the research. However, the researcher cannot guarantee the confidentiality or anonymity of material transferred by the internet. The information that the research team collect and use is information from the questionnaire only. The data will be stored electronically for 5 years and after this time it will be deleted. A summary of project results will be available upon completion of the research project. If you would like to receive a summary of the overall findings of this research project, individual results will be provided by contacting the primary investigator, Dr Nina Wilson.
Ethics: The ethical aspects of this research project have been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of the University of South Australia (approval number: 205864) as required by the Australian Government research requirements, specified in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007 - updated 2018). This statement has been developed to protect the interests of people who agree to participate in human research studies.
Concerns: The person you may need to contact will depend on the nature of your query. If you want any further information concerning this project or if you have any problems which may be related to your involvement in the project, you can contact the main researcher, Dr Nina Wilson, via telephone on +618 8302 1406 or via email at nina.wilson@unisa.edu.au. If you have any complaints about any aspect of the project, the way it is being conducted or any questions about being a research participant in general, please contact the Human Ethics Officer at the University of South Australia Human Research Ethics Committee via telephone +618 8302 6330 or via email at humanethics@unisa.edu.au. Please keep this sheet for your information.
