THE SURVEY ABOUT THE EVENT INDUSTRY IN BULGARIA
WHAT IT IS
01
THE PROJECT
This research is a part of a dissertation project for a postgraduate diploma in MA Marketing, Advertising and PR with City College Sheffield, the international faculty of University of Sheffield.
02
THE PURPOSE
The purpose of this project is to outline the primary event venue selection criteria for event planners in Bulgaria and to identify whether venue managers have different understanding of the same criteria. This will help to establish basic guidelines for future research as no such investigation has been done for the event industry in Bulgaria before. The research is associated with the completion of a postgraduate dissertation project. The project will take place in the period between 15th August and 30th October 2018.
03
WHY YOU
The research consists of a combination of questionnaires and interviews. You being invited to participate in either of these is associated with your professional occupation and your association with the event industry.
EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF EVENT VENUE SELECTION CRITERIA IN BULGARIA: ARE THERE ANY MISMATCHES BETWEEN EVENT PLANNERS’ VIEW AND THE UNDERSTANDINGS OF VENUE MANAGERS?
THE INFORMATION SHEET
You are being invited to take part in a research project associated with the completion of a postgraduate dissertation project. Before you decide whether or not to participate, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish. Ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part. Thank you for reading this.
What is the project’s purpose?
The purpose of this project is to outline the primary event venue selection criteria for event planners in Bulgaria and to identify whether venue managers have different understanding of the same criteria. This will help to establish basic guidelines for future research as no such investigation has been done for the event industry in Bulgaria before. The research is associated with the completion of a postgraduate dissertation project. The project will take place in the period between 15th August and 30th October 2018.
Why have I been chosen?
The research consists of a combination of questionnaires and interviews. You being invited to participate in either of these is associated with your professional occupation and your association with the event industry.
Do I have to take part?
It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. If you do decide to take part you will be given this information sheet to keep (and be asked to sign a consent form) and you can still withdraw at any time* without any negative consequences. You do not have to give a reason. If you wish to withdraw from the research, please contact Bilyana Prodanova, bprodanova@citycollege.sheffield. eu
*Please note that if there is a point at which it will not be possible for a participant’s data to be withdrawn from the research (e.g. once data have been anonymised and included within a large data set). Whilst you can withdraw from any on-going or future data collection, your data cannot be removed from the big data-set after 20th August 2018 when all data is expected to be already anonymised and included in the large data set.
What will happen to me if I take part? What do I have to do?
The completion of the questionnaire should not take more than 10 minutes of your time. Should you be invited to participate in an interview, this will not take more than 90 minutes. To participate in the questionnaires, no personal data will be collected apart from your email address which you are free not to provide if this is your wish. Should you provide your email address, this will only be used for the purposes of the current research and will not be available to people outside the current project.
The questionnaire consists of two main sections – background/ethnographic data and event venue selection criteria which you would grade according to your personal perceptions of importance. Interviews aim to further investigate the importance of event venue selection criteria for both event managers and venue managers. Interviews will follow a structured form by asking particular questions which would require open answers. However, depending on the course of the conversation clarification questions will be added.
What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?
The research is not expected to bring any disadvantages for you as a participant, apart from taking some of your time. However, should you feel uncomfortable with any of the aspects of the research, please, feel free to let us know. You can also decide to withdraw your participation in the research at any point without any need of explanation.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
Whilst there are no immediate benefits for those people participating in the project, it is hoped that this work will contribute for the development of a more adequate communication process within the event industry in Bulgaria in regards to communication and understanding between event managers and venue managers. Hopefully, the research will form the basis for further research in the event management field.
Will my taking part in this project be kept confidential?
All the information that we collect about you during the course of the research will be kept strictly confidential and will only be accessible to members of the research team. You will not be able to be identified in any reports or publications unless you have given your explicit consent for this. If you agree to us sharing the information you provide with other researchers (e.g. by making it available in a data archive) then your personal details will not be included unless you explicitly request this.
Will I be recorded, and how will the recorded media be used?
The audio and recordings of the interviews made during this research will be used only for analysis. No other use will be made of them without your written permission, and no one outside the project will be allowed access to the original recordings.
What is the legal basis for processing my personal data?
According to data protection legislation, we are required to inform you that the legal basis we are applying in order to process your personal data is that ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest’ (Article 6(1)(e)). Further information can be found in the University’s Privacy Notice https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/govern/data-protection/privacy/general.
What will happen to the data collected, and the results of the research project?
Any personal data collected within the research will be anonymised and not accessible to people outside the current research. You can request a copy of the research results via email: bprodanova@citycollege.sheffield.eu. Due to the nature of this research it is very likely that other researchers may find the data collected to be useful in answering future research questions. We will ask for your explicit consent for your data to be shared in this way.
Who is organizing and funding the research?
Who is the Data Controller?
The research is not funded and is part of a postgraduate dissertation project.
The University of Sheffield will act as the Data Controller for this study. This means that the University is responsible for looking after your information and using it properly.
Who has ethically reviewed the project?
This project has been ethically approved via the University of Sheffield’s Ethics Review Procedure, as administered by the Business Administration and Economics
What if something goes wrong and I wish to complain about the research?
In the instance of a complaint regarding your treatment by researchers, please contact Bilyana Prodanova (Principal Investigator) at bprodanova@citycollege.sheffield.eu or Dr Dimitrios Nikolaidis (Supervisor) at d.nikolaidis@citycollege.sheffield.eu. However, should you feel your complaint has not been handled to your satisfaction (e.g. by the Principal Investigator or Supervisor) you can contact the Head of Department, who will then escalate the complaint through the appropriate channels. If the complaint relates to how the participants’ personal data has been handled, information about how to raise a complaint can be found in the University’s Privacy Notice: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/govern/data-protection/privacy/general.