Hello everyone!!! I know it has been some time since I last posted, but I have been very busy with my dissertation proposal and collaberating on a research study with a senior faculty member at my doctoral program. I have also been busy with family stuff, my son starting college, my other son starting kindergarten, and myself starting back at school for the fall. I wanted to write to ask what other's experiences have been like in the submission and process in dealing with the IRB of your instution for your respective disseration sudies (both for on-line and brick and motar students)? What should I expect/look out for??? Thanks....
The extent to which the IRB influences your research really depends upon the nature of your research and the methodologies that you use. The IRB is typically seen as a "hurdle" to jump through in the dissertaiton process, but actually performs a needed function. The IRB exists to make sure that if you are using human subjects in your research, you must take precautions to assure that their confidentiality is maintained and that there are not conditions in your methodology that could confound your findings. My interaction with the IRB was pretty simple and straightforward. I had to fill out a form that described in detail how I would be conducting my study, what interactions I would have with my subjects, how I would be maintaining objectivity and confidentiality, etc. Since my research involved on-line surveying of distance educators, it was pretty easy to design the instrument to assure confidentiality. Had I been doing a qualitiative study where I was physically interacting and/or interviewing my subjects or an experimental laboratory study where I was applying different treatments to my groups of subjects, there would have been much more involvement by the IRB.
Some of us (maybe just me) are civilians (aka clueless). What's an IRB dissertation review? Who is the IRB and why are they reviewing dissertations in the first place?
Hi Bill, IRB stands for Institutional Review Board. Most graduate universities that require master theses and doctoral dissertations have this entity, which is usually a committee of faculty that reviews dissertation proposals (not finished dissertations) to see that applicable laws and university policies regarding security and anonymity of research subjects are met. For example, if one is doing research involving children or psychiatric patients, their are laws governing what can and cannot be done. Before doctoral candidates can begin collecting data for their dissertations, they need to have their proposals Ok'd by their dissertation committee and by the university. The IRB review is the university's "OK". Often this is done by simply completing an IRB form and sending it with your dissertaion proposal. The IRB meets and either gives its stamp of approval or recommends ways to address the law and policy concerns before the candidate can begin data collection.
You will not likely have any problems. The IRB should just be interested in who your subjects will be and how you will be interacting with them. Don't be too concerned. Talk with the members of your dissertation committee; they should be acquainted with the preferences of your institution's IRB. Qualitative dissertations tend to be the most interesting
