Human Subject research
What is it?
How did we go wrong?
What do we do now?
What is it?
Exactly that...
conducting research with/on people
interviews. observations. surveys. physical experiments
Animals?
yep: people conduct research on animals.
but that is a whole 'nother form & history
What went wrong?
there's always a reason for what we do, right?
Nuremberg Tribunals
Tuskegee (Alabama) experiment (1932-1972)
Thus
United States Code of Federal Regulations
policy establishes criteria for most types of research involving human subjects
requires colleges, universities, hospitals and other places receiving federal $$ to create Institutional Review Boards
The IRB reviews and approves or disallows human subject reserach
IRB
Five members.
A chair (Tony Zschau @ UNG)
1 w/ expertise with scientific research methods
1 outside of science
1 not affiliated with university--often a minister
usually meet f2f once a month
How IRB Processes PROTOCOLS
An IRB application is called a 'protocol.' We look at one next class.
Got 3 basic categories of research to submit:
Exempt
Expedited
Full-committee
7 criteria
The IRB thinks about
Risks are minimized
Risks are reasonable in relation to benefits
Selection of participants is equitable
Informed consent obtained
Informed consent is documented
Protect confidentiality
Vulnerable populations protected
Training
Some schools require training before submission
Writing & publication
IRB is very interdisciplinary.
Some things work for our field, some don't, and some things are missing.
So...
Reference
Anderson, Paul V. "Ethics, Institutional Review Boards, and the Involvement of Human Subjects in Composition Research." Ethics and Representation in Qualitative Studies of Literacy. Eds. Mortensen and Kirsch.