Who have we invited to take part in this study?

Our research team has sought out individuals knowledgable and involved in the implementation of e-cigarette policies by their state or local agency or school. By implementation, we are referring to how the policy is put into action and enforced after the political, legislative, or adoption process has been completed. We invite these key informants to take part in our research so that we may understand directly from those involved in process how these policies are implemented and what challenges they might face.

Which policies are we gathering information on?

The policy subject(s) of the key informant interviews at the state and local levels will include one or two of the following policy categories:

1) restricting the age that individuals can buy or be sold e-cigarettes
2) restricting or prohibiting sales of flavored products
3) limiting stores where e-cigarettes may be used or sold
4) restricting where e-cigarettes may be used (e.g., clean indoor air laws)
5) taxing e-cigarettes

The school interview policy subjects will be tailored to the policies and programs instituted in a given school aimed to address e-cigarette use among students. Such policies may include implementing tobacco-free school policy components, substance use curriculum, screening for e-cigarette use, and disciplinary action against e-cigarette use in schools.

How will information be collected?

To capture insights from our key informants, we will administer either 1) an interview with members of our research team and an online survey or 2) a survey only.

Will research participants be compensated for participating in this research?

If research participants are requested and choose to participate in both the interview and completion of the survey, we will compensate them with a $50 gift card. If they are requested and choose to participate in the survey only, we will compensate them with a $10 gift card. We understand that some organizations prohibit their employees from accepting gift cards. The participant may feel free to decline compensation, or request us to make an equivalent donation to a non-profit associated with their institution.

What do participants need to prepare before participating in the interview?

For the state and local policy interviews, we do not require participants to complete or prepare any materials prior to our conversation. However, if they would like to refresh themsevles on the policy topic of the interview prior to our interview, they are more than welcome to do so. For participants in the school interviews, the school interview team will administer a pre-interview survey that assesses some details about the relevant policies in place in the participant’s school.

Where do these interviews take place?

Participation in our study is remote. Interviews are conducted over a video conferencing platform and surveys are administered online via email and the website RedCap.

What if a participant is unsure how many question they will be able to answer in an interview?

We encourage our participants to answer only as many questions with as much detail as they are comfortable. Our goal is to learn from them and the expertise they hold in their experience with the implementation of these policies. There are no right or wrong answers and they may feel free to decline answering any questions that they do not want to.

Will the name or the name of participants’ organizations be identified in publications?

Individual respondents and their states will be kept confidential and used for study recruitment and internal tracking purposes only. We plan to aggregate responses, and participant names and state identifiers will not be attached to research data in published reports. If when analyzing our interviews, we think it would be informative to identify respondents in some way, we would only do so with prior written permission, which of course participants are free to withhold.

What is the time commitment for participating in this study?

The interviews with state, town, and school informants are typically kept at 60 minutes in length. The state and town informants implementation survey is estimated to take 5 minutes to complete. The school informants pre-interview survey is estimated to take ~ 30 minutes to complete.

Is there any way being in this study could be bad for a participant?

Participation in this interview is low risk. Participant’s data (responses during the interview and transcriptions) may be shared in aggregate form with the research team. However, their name and other personal information will be removed from the discussion transcripts by research staff before analysis. We will note their organization of employment and role there as part of the discussion. This data will be available among the research staff involved in the project as approved by the study investigator. However, in reporting of research results, names and exact roles will not be able to be linked in efforts to prevent re-identification of data

Will the interview be recorded?

Yes, participant interviews are recorded so that we can be sure to accurately capture the insights shared with us. After our conversation, we will transcribe the interviews and remove names from the transcripts. Once the transcripts have been verified, the video and audio recordings of the call will be deleted.

Will being in this study help the participant in any way?

The insights we will learn from our discussion will help to improve the dissemination and implementation of feasible, effective e-cigarette control policies to maximize population health, findings which we will share back with stakeholders, including our participants, to help support their organization’s mission. Although we cannot promise any benefits to the participants or others from taking part in this research, the information shared with us will help us identify the impacts of different e-cigarette policy efforts on e-cigarette, combustible cigarette, and cannabis use. Our goal is to share our findings with the participants and their organizations once the study is complete so they can learn from and take advantage of any insights we gather.

How will the privacy of participants be protected?

Participation in this interview is low risk. Participant names and other personal information will be removed from the interview transcripts by research staff before beginning analysis. In reporting of research results, names and exact roles will not be able to be linked in efforts to prevent re-identification of data. To help us protect our participants’ privacy, this research is covered by a Certificate of Confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health. The researchers can use this Certificate to legally refuse to disclose information that may identify a participant in any federal, state, or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceedings, for example, in the very unlikely event of a court subpoena.

What happens if a participant does not want to participate in this research?

Their participation is completely voluntary, and they may decide to stop participating at any time.