• Frequently Asked Questions
• Survey Comments - What you thought of the survey  

Frequently Asked Questions

What's happening with the study this year?

In 2014 we will be surveying all the original IYDS participants from Victoria to ask about life as a young adult.  Participants will be asked to complete the survey online and the survey will take between 30 - 60 minutes to complete.  A gift voucher to the value of $50 will be given to participants who complete the survey, as our way of saying thankyou

How many young people have participated in the study?

• 2884 in Australia
• 2885 in the US

How was I chosen to participate?

In 2002, we randomly chose about 150 schools in each state Victoria, Australia,  and Washington, USA and your school was among those chosen. Once your school agreed to participate, we randomly selected one class in your grade/year level, and again, your class was selected! All of the students in your class who returned a signed consent form from their parents became our study participants.

How many years will this project continue?

Currently, we have funding to survey all participants from Victoria until the end of 2014. We surveyed participants in 2010 and 2012, and plan to survey participants again in 2014.  The US team has also obtained funding to follow up some of our Washington participants in 2014. The longer the project is, the more useful it becomes.

When will I take the survey again?

We are planning to survey participants from July 2014 for the third Young Adult survey.  We hope to continue to follow all of the participants in our study as they progress through young adulthood.

Who conducts the surveys?

In 2014, the surveys will mostly be completed by participants online.  Some participants may choose to complete a postal or phone survey which willbe undertaken by teams of interviewers from the Centre for Adolescent Health in Melbourne, Australia.

Am I still in the study if I move?

Yes, absolutely!  In fact, many of you have already moved a number of times. Some have even moved out of the state or out of the country. We are interested in talking with you no matter where you move. The study will follow you as an individual. It's important that we talk to all of the same participants year after year to see how your experiences and attitudes change over time. If you have moved or are planning to move in the near future, please let us know!

AUS:iyds@rch.org.au

Are my answers kept private?

YES. No one but the researchers on this study will ever see your answers to questions in the survey. All of the surveys have a code number on them to track them instead of your name. When we report on results for the study, we will only report on how many participants gave particular answers to questions (like an opinion poll). You can be confident that no individual participants are identified.

Can I talk to someone on the project if I have questions?

YES. You can get in touch with the Project Manager by phone or email. Please go to the 'Contact Us' tab on this website for details or click here to email.

AUS: Rachel Smith rachel.smith@mcri.edu.au

How am I helping other young people and young adults like me?

We communicate really closely with professionals and policy makers who decide what kind of resources young people need today, and develop programs that promote the positive development of young people. Doing the survey is your chance to let government and policy makers know what young people and young adults need, and what is important to you.

Why do you ask personal questions?

Some of the questions we are asking are very personal, but it is important that we get a really good picture of what it is like to be a young person today. We can guarantee you that all of your individual answers remain private and confidential.

How come lots of the questions don't seem to apply to me and my life?

The International Youth Development Study participants have a wide range of ages. In the first year of the project, students ranged from Grade 5 to Year 9. Also, there are so many different things that young adults are involved in today. We are trying to capture as many of these things as possible to get the best picture we can of what it's like for you to be living as a young adult in Australia. This means that some of the topics will relate to you and others won't. The tough part is that we don't know this until we ask you!

Survey Comments - What you thought of the survey

We always read the feedback that you provide to us, and listen to your suggestions. The comments below are summaries of all the feedback you have given us. You can trust that we keep all of your comments and information confidential.