Share your Story Living Off-Grid During the Pandemic: Research Study Looking for Participants
Hello!
My name is Dr. Ryan Alan Sporer. I am a sociology professor at Salisbury University. I invite you to participate in my research study on the people who build and live in Earthships and other off-grid structures. These are some of the questions I hope to answer. Why are people building and living differently? How they are accomplishing this? What problems do they have to confront? And how has recent politics and the pandemic affected the off-grid movement?
The purpose of this research is to add knowledge of the off-grid movement to social science literature. This is a follow up study to interviews I collected between 2013-2015 with Earthship residents, interns, and other builders. You may participate if you are between the ages of 18 and 64 and currently live in an off-grid dwelling or are actively building one.
As a participant, you will be asked to set aside 30 minutes to one hour for a Zoom or telephone interview. The interview will be recorded with a digital audio recorder. The recording will be transcribed and analyzed along with two dozen or more interviews. All interviews will use fake names and your answers will be confidential.
I do not believe there are any risks to your participation that is any greater than would occur in a conversation that you would normally have about your experiences. There is no direct material benefit for your participation, other than knowing that your answers will help social scientists understand the off-grid movement.
Participation is voluntary, you may skip any questions you wish not to answer, and you may end the interview at any point for any reason with no negative consequence to your relationship to Salisbury University.
If you would like to participate in this research study, you may email me at rasporer@salisbury.edu or call me at (773) 312-2242.
If you have questions later, please contact me at the email or phone number above or you may contact the sociology department directly at 410-543-6430.
If you have any adverse effects or concerns about the research, please contact the primary investigator Dr. Ryan Alan Sporer at rasporer@salisbury.edu or (773) 312-2242 or the Office of Graduate Studies and Research at Salisbury University at 410-548-3549 or toll free 1-888-543-0148. This research is approved by the Salisbury University’s IRB under protocol number 12
Thank you for your consideration,
Dr. Ryan Alan Sporer