Application for Ethics Approval (2011051201), November 16, 2011, ECU-REB reference number (#2011090101)

After carefully considering the conditions for reapplication, I informed the Ethics Committee that I no longer intended to recruit persons with amputations or prosthetics and I was withdrawing the primary research and primary participant involvement portion of this research project.

Due to time limitations, and in order to complete this research project by the end of April 2012, I felt that I could not successfully recruit participants and gain a trusting and psychologically supportive environment within which these participants would be willing to share personal, intimate and traumatic information.

I recognized that the information I intended to gather from the participants goes beyond Minimal Risk status. I would like to address the following issues and clarify how I intend to continue with this research project:

Professional Consultations
Secondary Research
Blog

Professional Consultations
Part of this research project involves talking to health care professionals who deal specifically with prosthetics. At this time, I have one Prosthetician who I am confident will be willing to participate in my research project. I intend to discuss prosthetic materials and processes of prosthetic manufacturing with this individual to incorporate into my research and its dissemination.

I am approaching this contact as a professional and consultant, and not conducting personal interviews. Prior to conducting any interview, the prosthetician will be informed of my research project and asked to sign a consent form. I will make use of the letter of invitation and consent forms for involvement of other Prostheticians, Occupational Therapists or medical professionals in this research project.

Secondary Research
It is my intention to gather data on issues of body image and amputation from secondary sources including psychological studies, peer-reviewed papers, popular cultural references in movies, comic books and literature, and amputee support group websites or blogs.

Because the psychological studies, papers and reports are for public consumption, I do not need permission to access this information as a source inspiration for art creation. If, however, any portion of the text is quoted directly in the work, proper references and bibliographic sources will be supplied.

In the case of the blogs and support group websites (for example: http://www.stumps.org/contacts.html), I will contact the owner of the website and get permission to use any information relevant to this research project, as is directed on the website itself.

Blog
One of the methods of dissemination outlined in the application to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research was to create a blog that would track the process and progress of the research project. This blog will be hosted on my personal website, www.kristinafiedrich.com on a page dedicated to CIHR research. Because I am no longer involving primary participants, the information contained in this blog would not need to be private.

Any links to other websites, blogs or online research would be properly referenced and permission will be obtained from the original source in compliance with Canadian copyright laws. Information contained on this blog would include weekly summary reports, progress reports, photo documentation of the work, and a final report of the research project.