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I'm making a note here: Huge Success!
Feb. 15th, 2008 11:34 amI'm drafting up an IRB proposal this morning. (Along with goofing off, roasting char siu pork, and meeting with my advisor.) Because the results of an interview project for one of my classes might be relevant for my dissertation, if I want to use material from it then I need IRB approval ahead of time.
The IRB is the board that reviews all "human subject research," including everything from drug testing to interviews. With social sciences and stuff like my research, they want to be certain that "interviewing people about religion and fiction" isn't code for "re-enacting the Stanford prison experiments only this time I sell tickets." Or that my confidentiality procedures are more than "using the subject's name in Pig Latin." Or that I won't spend the whole interview asking questions like "Yes, but why do you suck so hard?"
The proposal is a formal document asking things like "Describe experimental procedures" and "State the expected risks and benefits to your subjects and society at large."
As you might expect, I'm getting a little silly. I've just had to rewrite my experimental procedure from "Step 1: Cut a hole in the box," for example, and it's all I can do not to list "cake" as one of the potential benefits. Delicious, moist cake. And grief counseling.
But here's me typing when there's (social) science to do!
I wonder if there's such a thing as a mad social scientist. Can I still scream at Those Fools from the Institute?
The IRB is the board that reviews all "human subject research," including everything from drug testing to interviews. With social sciences and stuff like my research, they want to be certain that "interviewing people about religion and fiction" isn't code for "re-enacting the Stanford prison experiments only this time I sell tickets." Or that my confidentiality procedures are more than "using the subject's name in Pig Latin." Or that I won't spend the whole interview asking questions like "Yes, but why do you suck so hard?"
The proposal is a formal document asking things like "Describe experimental procedures" and "State the expected risks and benefits to your subjects and society at large."
As you might expect, I'm getting a little silly. I've just had to rewrite my experimental procedure from "Step 1: Cut a hole in the box," for example, and it's all I can do not to list "cake" as one of the potential benefits. Delicious, moist cake. And grief counseling.
But here's me typing when there's (social) science to do!
I wonder if there's such a thing as a mad social scientist. Can I still scream at Those Fools from the Institute?
