© 2008 brigham young university–idaho student research using human subjects scott bergstrom...

© 2008 Brigham Young University–Idaho 1

STUDENT RESEARCH USING HUMAN SUBJECTS

Scott Bergstrom

Institutional Research

March 15, 2013


1. Why do we limit the number of subjects for student research?

2. What are the laws and local rules governing research activity on campus?

3. What resources are available to students?

4. What topics are out of bounds for student researchers? How do we handle student researchers who want to investigate sensitive topics?

Agenda



Significance: 2 surveys per student each semesterPlus 3 end-of-semester surveys: Housing Survey, Survey of Graduating Students, and Course EvaluationsPlus a variety of administrative surveys throughout.


Practice:

Student online surveys are given 100 to 300 subjects (i.e., email addresses). Senior-level research classes are eligible for 400 to 500.

Questions:• Does this hurt your ability to teach students proper

research methods?• Is there a better way to allocate subjects?• What happens when each student gets many more

requests to participate in surveys in a semester?



• Do students really need to collect data or can they work from existing data sets?

• Can intercepts, observations, focus groups, interviews, or phone surveys work just as well?

• Do you ensure that your students are professional in their invitations to participate in research?

• Can students get by with a simple random sample instead of an esoteric stratified or cluster sample?

• How early in the semester can the survey be administered? (The last three weeks of the semester are very challenging)

• Will continued increases in online surveying degrade response rates and eventually “kill the goose that lays our golden eggs?”

Considerations for Online Surveys


Federal Laws (45 CFR Part 46)1. Research is “a systematic investigation…designed to

develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.” If study goes outside classroom, it involves generalizing knowledge.

2. The online registration process ensures proper oversight. Most student research is considered ‘exempt’ from IRB review.

3. Any research which targets minors or other vulnerable populations must be reviewed by the BYU-Idaho IRB.

4. Human subjects must be presented with some form of informed consent.

5. Researchers must understand and mitigate any potential risks and/or harm to their subjects.

2. What are the laws and rules?


University Rules

1. All studies using human subjects must be registered.

2. Students should not generate their own samples without permission. The university will generate random samples for the projects.

3. Students should not request class time for their research activity UNLESS it is part of the course curriculum or in harmony with department protocol.

4. Students are not allowed to mass email employees. They can conduct limited phone or face-to-face interviews.

5. Intercepting or videotaping in the library is not allowed.

6. Students should avoid overly intrusive research activities.



Practice:

Enforce the federal laws and university rules.

Questions:• Do you teach these to your students? Do students

follow them?• Do we need a centralized way of communicating

these laws and rules to students? Example: a university-wide human subjects tutorial?

• Do any of local rules interfere with your ability to teach students proper research methods?




Qualtrics is available at no cost to BYU-Idaho students and faculty

www.byui.qualtrics.com


Practice:

Provide Qualtrics and samples.

Questions:• Are there other resources which the university

could provide? Example: Access to data sets.



Practice: • Discourage research which investigates the

religious, moral, or spiritual behaviors and attitudes of student body or Church members.

• Evaluate on a case-by-case basis.

Questions:• Have we been too restrictive?• What topics are out of bounds for student

researchers? • How do we handle student researchers who want

to investigate sensitive topics?

4. Sensitive topics?

© 2008 brigham young university–idaho student research using human subjects scott bergstrom...

Documents

research activity

student researchers

number of subjects

student online surveys

brigham young universityidaho1

semester surveys

seniorlevel research

phone surveys