FAQs
Are there any questions you need answered before joining? Anything not clear about our survey? Find answers through our Frequently Asked Questions here.
Protecting Your Data
Any personal details will be stored in a secure location and kept separate from study data. Study data will be stored in secure buildings, using a unique anonymous identification (ID) code. All data will be kept in a password-protected database and linked by your unique ID code.
We plan to keep data and continue to track health in those who have taken part for at least 10 years. We will apply for data usage renewal, after this 10 year period, if we still believe it can be used in research.
The CovidLife team is based at The University of Edinburgh, who’ll be the legal owner of the data collected. In practice, CovidLife will manage the data, maintaining and building the public good. If you take part, you will not own your data.
CovidLife has security in place to ensure complete anonymity and to protect the information we collect. We'll always ensure that identifying data (e.g. name, address, date of birth) are kept separate from all other information. Those involved are fully trained to maintain your confidentiality.
Researchers who analyse the data will not be able to identify any one person. Study data will be stored carefully in secure buildings, using a unique anonymous ID code. This code allows researchers to access an anonymous copy of the information they need. They will not be able to use your ID to identify you.
Our research has been reviewed by an independent group of people, called a Research Ethics Committee. They’re here to protect your safety, rights, wellbeing and dignity. This project was reviewed and given a favourable opinion by the East of Scotland Research Ethics Committee
If the project is still running and you have not withdrawn your data before you die, we’ll retain it and continue to maintain confidentiality and security.
Your anonymised information will only be used by researchers who have relevant scientific and ethical approval for research. This could include researchers working in other countries or with commercial companies who are looking for new treatments or lab tests.
We will not give access to the following:
- Insurance companies
- Current or future employers
- Police (unless requested to do so by court order)
The Generation Scotland data access committee will have authority over access and use of project data. We have a clear management structure and all studies are covered by the correct ethical approvals. All users will only be able to access anonymous information and it will be held to the same high scientific and ethical standards
Your information will only be used by researchers who have relevant scientific and ethical approval for research. This could include researchers working in other countries or with commercial companies who are looking for new treatments or lab tests.
You’re providing your data as a gift. You won’t receive any payment for your contribution. The University of Edinburgh and CovidLife operate on a non-profit basis, meaning we won’t sell your data.
If you would like to complain about our handling of your data, you can contact the University’s Data Protection Officer via email at dpo@ed.ac.uk or write to:
Data Protection Officer, Governance and Strategic Planning, The University of Edinburgh, Old College Edinburgh EH8 9YL Scotland
Everyone who took part in CovidLife had to read the volunteer information before consenting.
If you want to view this information, you can read it below:
We’d like to invite you to take part in a research project about how coronavirus (COVID-19) is affecting you and your life. We’re interested in how it has made you feel, and how it’s affecting your health and well-being, your social and home life, and your employment. If you’re interested in taking part, please read on. The survey will start if you complete the consent form and agree to take part.
INFORMATION
The Government has given us all a strict set of rules to follow. These rules are necessary to help our NHS cope, get us through this crisis and save lives. These rules may change over time until the pandemic is in check. Every person and each household will be experiencing the effects differently. Some will cope well, others not. After this pandemic has passed, some will be able to get back on their feet quickly, others not. Our CovidLife survey is interested in understanding how we are all coping. Once we know, we can think what to plan for and how to prepare for the future. You can find more details about the survey here.
The questions start with some general information about you. Most of them will simply require you to select your answer from a list of options. Some questions are very specific to COVID-19, others are more general. We’ll be asking about how your life has changed and how you are coping with challenging and sometimes stressful circumstances. Therefore, some of the questions will be quite personal and sensitive. We hope you’ll be able to answer them all, but you can skip any you don’t feel comfortable answering. You’ll be able to stop at any point during the survey and come back to it later. Your answers will be saved as you go.
This survey will take about 30 minutes to complete.
We will contact you again to ask you to complete shorter follow-up surveys. This is so we can track the mid to longer-term effects of the COVID-19 measures. We’ll do a final survey after the Government lifts these measures.
The information you provide will be analysed by the Generation Scotland team at the University of Edinburgh, their research partners, and NHS colleagues.
Who can take part?
Taking part is open to anyone aged 18 or over and living in the UK. You must have access to the internet to take part. Taking part in this survey is entirely voluntary.
What will happen to the information I give you?
We will ask for your email address so that we can contact you for future surveys. Your email address will not be passed on to any third parties. We’ll also ask for your postcode, but not your home address. Your postcode will let us know about the area you live in, such as shops, transport, schools, play areas and green spaces.
All the information we collect will be stored in a safe and secure manner. We will anonymise your information before health researchers can look at it. Nobody will be able to identify you.
We will report what we find in tables and graphs and post these on our website. We’ll alert you to new postings by email. Findings will be shared with researchers, health professionals and policymakers. Our results will be published in peer-reviewed academic journals.
Who to contact?
In order for you to receive any information regarding our projects, it’s essential that we hold your up to date information. To change any of this information, please complete our web form found in the link below. If you have any difficulties please email us at genscot@ed.ac.uk.
If you haven't heard from us, when you expected to, you can reach us using the details on the webpage below:
It’s important, before you join the study, that you discuss any concerns you have with a member of the study team. Our research is more valuable if few people choose to withdraw from the study. However, you can withdraw at any time without giving a reason.
To withdraw you can contact us and let us know what type of withdrawal you would like to have:
- "No further contact": This means we’d no longer contact you with study updates or requests to join future studies. However, we’d still have permission from you to use the data you previously provided. We will also follow this guideline if you lose capacity to consent.
Complete the "Unsubscribe from CovidLife" form here
- "No further use": In addition to ‘’no further contact,’’ we’d no longer make your data available for research. Please note, we won’t be able to remove results from research already performed or those currently being performed. We’ll ensure that your data are no longer available for future research.
Details on how to contact us can be found in the link below:
It’s important to us that you have all the information you need before you join the study. If you can’t find the answer to your query here, you can contact us. Details can be found in the link below:
About CovidLife
The recent COVID-19 developments caused uncertainty and concern amongst the UK population. The ever changing news and advice can greatly affect our lives. For this reason, we feel it's important to understand the full impact of the current pandemic. We designed a survey to understand it's effect. To find out more about the CovidLife survey, visit the link below:
The Government gave a strict set of rules to follow. These rules were necessary to help the NHS cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, get us through this crisis and save lives. These rules have been changing and will continue to do so until the pandemic is in check. Every person and each household will be experiencing the effects differently.
We are interested in how it is making people feel and how it is affecting health, well-being, employment and social and home life. Some will cope well and others won't. We want to understand these affects across the UK
CovidLife is led by Professor David Porteous at the University of Edinburgh and managed by the Generation Scotland team. The study wouldn't be possible without the funding received from the Wellcome Trust.
For more information about the team visit:
We've taken the decision to combine the results of CovidLife survey 2 and survey 3 into one report. We felt this would help provide a clearer overview of how people may have been affected differently by COVID-19 over time. We'll be in touch with you by email as soon as we have published the results.
New COVID-19 treatment options are becoming available, which we ask about in our CovidLife 3 survey. There are some trusted websites which regularly update COVID-19 advice, based on new research developments, if you would like to learn more.
The NHS provides useful information on how to treat COVID-19 symptoms at home. They also regularly update their information on vaccinations:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland | NHS inform
In hospitals, medicines previously used for other conditions are being used to improve outcomes. Find out more about these here:
It is important that we collect information on how survey volunteers understand and respond to Government advice. This is because response can bear directly on compliance. Confidence in public health messaging is related to how closely individuals follow the guidance, and to an individual's wellbeing or concerns.
About TeenCovidLife
Our TeenCovidLife survey was designed with 12-17 year olds in mind. We asked about how lockdown was affecting young people's school and home life. We also wanted to know how they felt about lockdown and how it's impacted them.
Your parents will not be sent any information from us. We'll be sending schools information about the survey results. This is so that they can help their students deal with any issues facing them. However, teachers will not know your personal answers to any of the questions.
We will share the results with other researchers, charities and government to help your voice be heard. We hope this will help those organisations understand what life is like for teenagers at the moment. We also hope it will help them to support young people.
In Scotland, anyone over the age of 12 can provide their consent to take part in research. Due to this, we did not request parental consent for our young volunteers.
This survey did not ask for parental consent. This is ok for 12-17 year olds in Scotland because anyone above the age of 12 can provide their own consent. This is not the case for other areas of the UK, where parental consent would also be needed. This means that we were unable to bring our survey to teenagers living outside Scotland.
In some cases there are links between health and sex assigned at birth, so we asked this question. The wording is in line with the Government Equalities Office and was created based on advice received from Mermaids.
We understand there may be concerns for some around this question. Due to this, we offer the option to select ‘prefer not to answer.’ Later in the survey we also ask about gender as some people don't identify with their gender as the sex they were assigned at birth.
The Scottish Schools Health and Wellbeing Improvement Research Network (SHINE) are based at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, IHW, University of Glasgow. They aim to support improvements in health and wellbeing amongst school-aged children by building a collaboration between schools, researchers and policy-makers. If you would like your school to join, click the below link:
About RuralCovidLife
RuralCovidLife is a survey about coronavirus (COVID-19). It was created to understand how COVID-19 measures have affected the health and wellbeing of people living in rural Scottish communities. The questions are tailored and designed by people from rural communities.
We want to understand the impact of COVID-19 measures on people living in rural communities, in Scotland. Once we know, we can think about how to address any concerns and prepare for the future.
Rural communities may be affected differently to other communities in Scotland. We hope to understand whether whether this is the case, therefore we ask that only those with a rural background join this study.
However, if you're interested in getting involved in our research, take a look at our Generation Scotland study registration page. We hope to be launching next year. Register your interest now and we'll be in touch:
How to join Generation Scotland
According to the Scottish Government, rural Scotland is defined as residing in a settlement with a population of less than 3,000 people or residing on an island.
CovidLife is led by Professor David Porteous at the University of Edinburgh and managed by the Generation Scotland team. The study wouldn't be possible without the funding received from the Wellcome Trust.
For more information about the team visit:
In some circumstances there are links between health impacts and sex assigned at birth, so we ask this question. The wording is in line with the Government Equalities Office because you are given a legal sex at birth. Your parents must register this on your birth certificate. The only legally recognised options for sex in the UK are ‘female’ and ‘male’, which is why these are the only options for this question.
We understand there may be concerns for some around this question. Due to this, we offer the option to select ‘prefer not to answer.’ Later in the survey we also ask about gender as some people don't identify their gender as the sex they were assigned at birth.
Taking Part
Only those who completed the first CovidLife survey can take part in the third one. The third survey link will be emailed yo you. You can fill in the survey on either your computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone. You can return by clicking the link on our website. If you have any technical issues with the survey, you can email genscot@ed.ac.uk or call 0131 651 8718
We advise you complete the survey in one sitting. However, if you need to stop part way through, answers are saved automatically and the survey will be available for you to complete for another 7 days. To continue the questionnaire, simply go to the survey link you were sent by email using the same device you started it with.
After 7 days, you will not be able to finish completing the survey, unless you start again. Even if you are unable to finish the survey, the information you provide will still be valuable to our research.
In some circumstances there are links between health impacts and sex assigned at birth, so we ask this question. The wording is in line with the Government Equalities Office because you are given a legal sex at birth. Your parents must register this on your birth certificate. The only legally recognised options for sex in the UK are ‘female’ and ‘male’, which is why these are the only options for this question.
We understand there may be concerns for some around this question. Due to this, we offer the option to select ‘prefer not to answer.’ Later in the survey we also ask about gender as some people don't identify their gender as the sex they were assigned at birth.
Why Take Part?
It will take time and work to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting mental health. So, it may take a while for research results to be seen. However, research is likely to be published and you'll see all our latest updates on the website, in social media or via newsletters we send you, if you take part.
Due to the nature of this study we won't be feeding back information to you about your own data. However, we will publish reports after each survey to show you how the UK is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. It may take some time for these reports to be published though. We'll also update our website and social media channels with information on our research progress.
Unfortunately, as with most charity and public sector research, people who take part will not be paid.
The first survey will be quite long (roughly 40 minutes) which we understand is quite a large chunk of your time. It will also take some time to complete any follow-on surveys, though they will be shorter than the first survey. Your time and effort will greatly benefit our research.