Hello!

You were invited to play Lines And Ladders with Kirsty Surgey, a PhD researcher from the University of Sheffield. This page remains for participant information.

A game of family histories – a chance to share stories – a genealogical journey of excitement and disappointment that takes place at a table in a café…

It was completely FREE to participate.  Games were mostly played with up to 3 audience participants. Games lasted approximately 60 minutes.

Locations, Dates and Times:

This research project is now complete. This page remains for information.

Important Information:

This was part of a PhD research project investigating the sharing of personal stories in public spaces. During the game, Kirsty shared some stories about her adventures in family history and participants were given opportunities to share their own stories.

Following the game Kirsty wrote notes about her experience of playing the game with participants as part of a performance diary documenting this research and participants were asked to complete a short feedback form describing their responses. Participants were able to state if they wished their contributions to the research to be anonymised, and were made aware that they may still be identifiable from the details that they chose to share.

There were sometimes photographs taken during the performance; participants were given an opportunity to indicate if they were happy to be included in these.

An ongoing record of Kirsty’s working journal and photographs was published at https://heardofcats.co.uk/blog/

Material created by playing the game is used in Kirsty’s PhD thesis and available online as an ethesis; it may also be used online, in research papers, publications and public presentations given by Kirsty. Unpublished materials generated by Lines And Ladders will be destroyed within 5 years of the project’s completion.

Contact details and name will be kept confidentially through the Eventbrite webpage and shared only with the venue in order to manage the performance. These will be stored for as long as they are required for participation in the project.

Personal information will be stored securely and digital records will be maintained on a password protected computer.

Any sensitive data that emerged within the performance was treated additional care and only used within analysis and documentation with the explicit permission of the participant.

Before the game started, participants were asked to sign a consent form. The game was played by people aged 6 and above, but participants under 16 were only allowed to play with a parent or carer, who signed a consent form.

Participants were free to withdraw at any point during the game and until the publication of the thesis. You can use this form to contact me or email me kmsurgey1@sheffield.ac.uk if you wish to withdraw.

PhD supervisor: Dr Carmen Levick, c.levick@sheffield.ac.uk – 0114 2220212 – The University of Sheffield, Room 4.04c, Jessop West, Sheffield, S3 7RA

For more information about Kirsty Surgey’s PhD visit:

https://heardofcats.co.uk/home/sharing-stories-phd-research/

This study has received ethical approval from the University of Sheffield, School of English Ethics Committee.

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.

In order to collect and use your personal information as part of this research project, we must have a basis in law to do so. The basis that we are using is that the research is ‘a task in the public interest’.

Further information, including details about how and why the University processes your personal information, how we keep your information secure, and your legal rights (including how to complain if you feel that your personal information has not been handled correctly), can be found in the University’s Privacy Notice https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/govern/data-protection/privacy/generalOriginal artwork by @ShaneSurgey