[Printable version here]

General information

• Research involving other universities or locations
• IRB procedures at KSU
• Scholarship of Teaching
• Research by Students
• Research on Students
• Consent

Note that the guidelines provided below are intended for a broad KSU audience. Some disciplines may require more restrictive procedures.

General Information

Q1: What is an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

A1: An IRB is a committee established to protect the rights and welfare of all human subjects who volunteer to participate in research studies conducted under the auspices of the university. The purpose of the IRB is to review all research involving human subjects and to ensure that potential research-related risks (physical, social, emotional and financial) are minimized and fully disclosed in order that volunteers can make an informed decision to participate. All research involving human subjects is reviewed and conducted according to relevant university, state and federal regulations.

Q2: What is the IRB definition of research?

A2: If data are collected from human participants and if the results may at some future point be published in a journal or presented at a conference, then the IRB considers it research, and thus, under the guidance of the IRB. Data collected strictly for teaching improvements or for university accreditation (SACS) need not be reviewed by the IRB.

Q4: Do I need IRB oversight even if I am only conducting interviews, surveys, or simply observing people?

A4: Yes.

Q5: I plan on videotaping and/or recording participants in my research. Are there any special guidelines I need to be aware of?

A5: Yes. The subject(s) must be informed that the data is being collected through such recordings unless approval for deception has been granted by the IRB. Consent forms must describe specifically who will use these recordings, how they will be used, for what purposes, how long they will be stored, and how they will be disposed of at the end of the study. Use of such data for other purposes must be disclosed and permission obtained for subsequent use in a special part of the consent.

Research involving Other Institutions or Locations

Q10: I've heard that the federal regulations make certain categories of research exempt. If my research fits into one of these categories, does this mean that I don't have to have it reviewed by the IRB?

A10: No. The IRB has the responsibility for determining whether or not a study is exempt. All research involving the collection of data from living humans must be reviewed by an IRB.

Scholarship of Teaching

Q11: What about teacher evaluations and other types of assessment we do in our classes and departments?

A11: Projects conducted for routine assessment of teaching effectiveness, curriculum, university processes and procedures, and customer satisfaction may be considered exempt. However, only the IRB can determine if a study is exempt.

Q12: What if I am engaged in the Scholarship of Teaching (SOT)? Should I seek IRB approval before starting to collect data?

A12: Yes. Most SOT projects involving collecting data from students or other human participants. It is important to complete and submit the IRB form for approval before beginning to collect data.

Research By Students

Q13: My students are doing research on human subjects for a class project. Must their proposals be approved by the IRB?

A13: Yes. Any individual conducting research on human subjects under the auspices of KSU, including faculty, staff, administrators, and students, must have the approval of the IRB. Students, and non-faculty staff and administrators must have a faculty advisor for their research projects. The faculty advisor is responsible for submitting student project proposals to the IRB with the exception of M.Ed., Ed.S. and Ed.D. program students. Students in these excepted programs, after faculty advisor review of the study, may submit required documents as long as their email reflects that they are part of an excepted program and the faculty advisor appears as a cc: in the submission email. Classroom projects involving no outside reporting or publication may be declared exempt by the IRB. For these types of classroom projects, complete and submit the IRB Approval Request Short Form. Bagwell College of Education students and faculty members should also read the related policies.

• Informing students/advisees of the ethical principles for the protection of human subjects and applicable polices and procedures;
• Reviewing and approving student/advisees projects PRIOR TO submission of their applications to the IRB to assure compliance with the KSU Instructions for Investigators Conducting Research Involving Human Subjects. Applications which are unreadable, or contain incorrect or insufficient information on which to base a determination for approval/disapproval by the IRB will be returned to the faculty advisor without review;
• Submitting the final application to the IRB
• Monitoring student/advisee projects to ensure proper implementation of project;
• Assuring that end-of-project reports are submitted to the IRB within the timeframe outlined in KSU IRB Instructions;
• Assuring that any adverse effects or changes in protocol are submitted to the IRB as outlined in the KSU IRB Instructions;
• Reviewing and approving student applications that are eligible for faculty review according to the guidelines under “Course Directed Human Subjects Activity” and retaining the completed applications for a period of one academic year.

Research on Students

Q16: Can I recruit students from my own classes to participate in my research?

A16: If you are the instructor or teaching assistant, or anyone the students would see as having power and authority over them, then the answer is "maybe." This is because the students could perceive the situation as one in which they really cannot refuse, even if they really didn't want to be in your study. You must avoid even the perception of coercion. If your students have special skills that make them particularly valuable as potential research participants, the IRB may approve your request to use them provided that you structure your protocol in such a way that the coercive potential is eliminated. If access to research subjects, including students, is gained through cooperating institutions not under the control of KSU, the institution(s) must be identified on the IRB form and evidence provided that the authorized official of that institution(s) is or will be informed of the study. If such subjects are placed at more than minimal risk, documentation of the institutional approval will be required.

• if course credit is given for participation, alternatives for receiving equal credit that are no more burdensome than the participation in research must be offered to those not participating;
• policies regarding course-related research participation must be clearly understood;
  incentives for participation may not be unduly influencing;
• student subjects must have the ability to decline participation;
• confidentiality must be maintained for self-disclosures of a personal nature.

Consent

When oral consent is used, there needs to be a witness to the oral presentation. Also, the IRB must approve a written summary of what is to be said to the subject or the representative. Only the short form itself is to be signed by the subject or the representative. However, the witness shall sign both the short form and the copy of the summary, and the person actually obtaining consent shall sign a copy of the summary. A copy of the summary shall be given to the subject or the representative, in addition to a copy of the short form.

Q24: What do you mean by “child assent script"?

A24: When you intend to collect data from children who are capable of comprehending, after obtaining consent from one or both of their parents, you must tell the children what to expect if they agree to participate in your research. You must make as certain as possible that the child understands that he or she has a free choice in the matter. The words that you use to present your study to the children are your "script." The children must give you a positive affirmation of their interest in participating. This is their way of exhibiting "assent.” Mere failure to object should not be construed as assent.

KSU Procedures

• Allow 7-10 business days for projects that involve surveys and interviews given to most adults, providing that you record the data in such a way that there is no possibility that the subjects can be uniquely identified by an outsider and that any disclosure of the their responses outside the research could not reasonably place the subjects at risk of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the their financial standing, employability, or reputation.
• Allow 4-5 weeks for studies that, in the judgment of the IRB, involve more than minimal risk to the participants because your study will need to be reviewed at a monthly IRB meeting. If the IRB needs you to make extensive changes to your study and tables further discussion of it for the next meeting, then clearly the time could be longer. Most studies that come to this IRB, however, are of such a nature that they need not be reviewed at a monthly meeting.

A27: You will receive a letter at the email address that you provide when you submit your protocol to the IRB. Faculty members will receive a letter when their students(s)/advisee(s) study is approved.

Email: pstrange@kennesaw.edu
This page last modified April 6, 2009
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