I would like to ask you to participate in the data collection for a study on audience viewing habits in relation to franchise fandom, conducted as part of my undergraduate degree programme at De Montfort University.

I hope to better understand the following issues:

·        How audience members connect with their fandom and consume franchise media

·        Social hierarchies within fandom

Participation in this study is entirely voluntary. It will involve a variety of questions asking your opinions on several recent films, as well as your connections to any film-related fandom you may be a part of.

You may decide not to answer any of the questions if you wish, or if they do not apply to you. You may also decide to withdraw from this study at any time by advising the student conducting the project or by emailing P2604219@my365.dmu.ac.uk. If you send notification of your withdrawal, all your data held as part of the project will be destroyed.

The information you provide is confidential, except that with your permission anonymised quotes may be used in a university essay.

Your name and any other personal identifying information will not appear in any work resulting from this study.

The information gained from this interview will only be used for the above objectives, will not be used for any other purpose and will not be recorded in excess of what is required for the research.

Even though the study findings will be submitted as assessed work as part of the student’s degree programme, only the student will have access to the full material itself. There are no known or anticipated risks to you as a participant in this study.

If you have any questions regarding this study or would like additional information please ask the student.

Yours sincerely,

Matthew Edge