Planning Your Proposal? Why Now is the Time to Get to Know IRB Resources

Friday, March 27, 2015 Capstone Writing , Dissertation 2 comments

Many of you working on your doctoral capstone studies already know that completing the Institutional Review Board (IRB) application is a pivotal stage in your progress. After you have completed your proposal and your committee members have approved it, IRB will review your proposed methods before you will be able to collect any data (including pilot data). Did you try to get a head start and collect any data before your study received IRB approval? Well, I hope not, because none of that data is now usable in your study. None.

This is why the IRB application is so important. Walden’s IRB exists to ensure all research conducted through the university complies with Walden’s ethical standards and U.S. federal regulations, and your chairperson, committee member(s), and URR are there to ensure your study is ready to meet those standards by the time they approve your proposal.

While your IRB application probably won't get a big red stamp, receiving approval will be no less exciting.

How to Prepare for IRB Approval

As someone trying to craft a good and sound research project the size of a dissertation or doctoral study, you may feel like you are starting over a lot. All of the work you do toward your final study is work that is important in your development as a scholar, but it can be frustrating—especially after you have put in a lot of work—to hear from your faculty or IRB that you need to change something significant in your study.

That’s why you should take advantage of the materials available through IRB to plan ahead as you start your writing process. Remember, that doesn’t mean you can approach participants or collect data prior to IRB approval, but you can start using the IRB guidelines to outline your proposal and preproposal documents even before it’s time to submit your application.

IRB Resources

Read through the application and general materials available through the IRB website—you will see there is even a Research Ethics Planning Worksheet designed to help you “anticipate and manage possible ethical concerns that are relevant to planning and executing a study” (para. 1). Even though you cannot complete the IRB application until your committee approves your study, you can start using this worksheet to plan your study even at the very beginning (such as the premise or prospectus, depending on what your program requires).

Some chairpersons even recommend their doctoral students use the IRB Application itself to plan out content in the methods section of the proposal. In that case, students use the rubric or checklist for their degree program (available through the Center for Research Quality) to outline the headings for each section and use the IRB Application Form to help fill in the required information.

Anticipating potential IRB concerns should happen sooner rather than later. Even if you are not ready to start drafting your proposal, you can attend IRB office hours. There you can interact with an IRB member in a group advising format to discuss ethical challenges and potential pitfalls to avoid when seeking IRB approval.

Research Red Flags

Designing a study with any of the elements or populations below does not mean you will be unable to get IRB approval, but in order to receive approval you will have to make totally sure you meet all requirements and expectations for ethical treatment of human subjects. The following recommendations are from the Center for Research Quality's "Red Flag Issues that Need an Early IRB Consultation".

While everyone could benefit from attending IRB office hours, people planning to conduct research at their place of employment should definitely make plans to consult with someone from IRB prior to getting too far into designing a study.

Other types of research that would benefit from early IRB consultation include anything that may put participants at risk, such as

studies designed to disclose behaviors or views that could compromise someone’s job;
studies involving any intervention; questions regarding substance abuse, mental state, or violence that might obligate a referral or intervention on the part of the researcher to prevent harm to the participant;
studies including race or ethnicity as a variable or inclusion criteria;
questions that may cause participants to incriminate themselves; or
studies framing personal issues in a judgmental, noninclusive, or otherwise insensitive manner that could cause individuals severe distress.

Checking with IRB is also a good idea if you want to recruit from any vulnerable populations, such as

anyone subordinate to you at work;
any of your own colleagues, patients, or adult students;
nursing home residents;
anyone age 17 and under;
prisoners;
individuals with mental, physical, or emotional impairment or disability;
people who may be less than fluent in English;
victims or witnesses of violence or trauma;
people who may be undocumented immigrants;
active duty military personnel; or
anyone else who may be particularly unable to advocate for themselves or protect their own rights and interests.

If you have specific questions, please contact the Walden IRB at irb@waldenu.edu. Additional contact information for the Center for Research Quality is available here.

Additional Resources and Help

The Writing Center also has resources for addressing ethical issues and maintaining confidentiality in your document in compliance with IRB. This FAQ document covers many of the concerns you might have when writing about your participants and research site.

Also, check out our blog posts on best practices for maintaining confidentiality in your doctoral capstone document before final submission:

Maintaining Confidentiality (Part 1)

Maintaining Confidentiality (Part 2)

This month on the blog, we're featuring topics related to the capstone (dissertation or doctoral study). Check out our latest WriteCast episode on tackling hard literature review questions and our posts on five things to know before starting your dissertation, what to do after you've received your Form and Style review, and how to make the most of face-to-face time at residencies. Stay tuned next week for our last post in the series.

Lydia Lunning is one of Walden’s dissertation editors and the coordinator for capstone resources in the Writing Center. Lydia also helps oversee the Walden Capstone Writing Community, a place where doctoral students working on their proposals and final studies can connect with their colleagues and get support through the capstone writing process.