Focus Group Pre-Screen Eligibility Questionnaire

Thank you for expressing interest in our research project. This research is being carried out by SmartShift Communications in the Central West Ontario region and is being led by Heidi McGuire, the Tobacco Control Manager at Hamilton Public Health. The research is funded by Hamilton Public Health.

Participation is voluntary and would include taking part in a focus group with researchers and 6-8 other people who are in the same age range. During the focus group, we would ask you questions about nicotine use among young people and how ideas of identities and peer groups can impact how, when and why nicotine might be used. Please note that you do not need to have used nicotine to participate.

Focus groups will be held in person and will last 1.5 hours. We do offer a thank you for your time in the form of a $100 e-gift card (with choices including Sport Chek, Amazon or Best Buy) after the focus group ends.

We are inviting young people to take part in a focus group. This short survey helps us see if you can join and makes sure that the groups include a mix of different experiences.

We will ask questions about:

• Age
• Where you live or spend most of your time
• Some general background questions about who you are and how you identify
• Your experiences with nicotine

These questions will take 3–5 minutes to answer. Your answers are confidential, and you do not have to answer any question you do not want to.

Only the research team will see your answers, and they will be stored securely in Canada.

We will keep the answers and your contact information together until we finish recruiting (by the end of May).

After we have finished recruiting, we will delete your name and contact information from your answers and keep just the answers so that you can no longer be identified. That information (your answers without your name and contact information) will be stored securely in Canada according to Hamilton Public Health’s rules and will be used when we write our reports.

How we protect your privacy when reporting this data

When we share results (in reports or summaries):

• We will only discuss groups, not any individual person.
• We will combine small groups so that no one can guess who you are.

Answering these questions does not mean you have to participate in the focus group. If you have any questions about this project, please contact anna@smartshiftcommunications.com

If you are eligible to participate, we will contact you with more information.