Hello, my name is Dr Alistair Hunter. I’m a researcher at the University of Edinburgh’s Alwaleed Centre:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/alistair-hunter

Please see the home page for an introductory video and more information.

I will use the findings to create a series of guidance documents for civil servants, local officials and other stakeholders, so that their services can be more inclusive of different groups in society. The guidance will also give examples of good practice in this area.

I will also convey the project findings to MPs and MSPs with the aim of improving the legislation on burial and cremation, much of which dates from the mid-19th century.

I will also present the results at academic conferences and publish findings in academic journals and books. The text of all academic journal publications will be made freely available to the public, and I will regularly update the project website with my progress.

Burying our Differences is a four-year project funded by the British Academy and the Mairie de Paris (Paris City Council). The funding runs between January 2015 and December 2018.

I will invite you to take part in an interview. Your participation is entirely voluntary and you have the right to decline to answer any particular question without giving a reason. I will ask to tape record the interview but you can refuse permission. You can stop the interview whenever you wish.

The questions I ask will depend on your role. For example, if you are a funeral director, I will mainly ask questions about your work and your customers’ preferences. If you are a religious representative, I will ask about rituals and pastoral care. If you work in the public sector, I will ask about planning issues and policies.

I will treat your details and interview material as strictly confidential: only I will have access to this data. Your data will be published anonymously unless you specifically ask to be credited, in which case I will ask for your prior written approval to publish any of your quotes.

Your data will be stored indefinitely in an electronic database. This database is password-protected: only I will have access to this data. I undertake to securely destroy any paper records containing information about you immediately after this has been entered in the electronic database.

You have the right to ask any questions in relation to this project before the interview commences as well as at any stage of the interview process or thereafter. If you have any questions after reading this FAQ, please contact me at one of the addresses given in the Contact Details below: I will be happy to clarify anything.

The Burying our Differences research project has been granted approval according to Level 1 Ethical Review as stipulated by the Research Ethics Committee of the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, University of Edinburgh. No reasonably foreseeable ethical risks have been identified.

Dr Alistair Hunter

The Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World

University of Edinburgh

16 George Square

Edinburgh EH8 9LD

 

Tel: 07708 226 927

Email: alistair.hunter@ed.ac.uk