I am conducting dissertation research that will involve the entirety of a population (i.e., all 23 Ohio community colleges). As I will be administering a 7 question survey to business faculty at each institution, I should need to complete IRBs for each school in order to be allowed to contact the faculty.
There is a likely benefit to my survey to the institutions who take part (e.g., learning whether a particular initiative results in better results on the characteristics that comprise the state's performance-based funding formula) and essentially no risks involved to the participants. I've gone through NIH Protecting Human Research Participants training, have submitted and been approved by host institution's IRB, and have made steady progress at most of the schools where I will be administering my survey.
However, one institution's department of institutional research "declined to participate". While I had anticipated some possible reluctance by some faculty who might actually be inconvenienced by the survey, I was not anticipating being "denied entry" by the IRB portion of the process (there was no reason given and no option for me to submit additional documentation to support my application to the IRB). I completely respect anyone's choice to not participate in the project, but I thought that the role of the IRB was to ensure the study protected the participants, not to gatekeep based on behalf of the institution about the overall nature of the research.
Has anyone ever encountered this or anything similar? My default response is to "just move on", but this whole situation somehow just doesn't feel right. I was advised by my dissertation chair to follow-up with the rejecting school and inquire as to their rationale for declining to participate (if nothing else, to add some additional insight in terms of the discussion areas of my dissertation). It goes against my nature to question a rejection because I don't want to be "that" person, so I would definitely welcome some input here.
Thank you in advance!
Yes, you can go back to the institution and clarify the purpose of your research and try to convince them to participate. Or, you can look for another institution, which will not reluctant cooperating with you.
Thank you both for your responses to this point. The survey is being administered to all 23 institutions within a state system of higher education (Ohio-USA), so losing one of the participants complicates the process.
Again, I understand if participants do not wish to participate, but I was under the presumption that the role of the IRB was to measure the costs/benefits of the study and protect human subjects. As this study would not involve the collection of any personally-identifying information and all published reports would only mention the institutions' names (no individuals being identified), I'm not sure that the IRB acted properly in denying participation without justification.
I will confer with my dissertation chairperson more about how I should proceed and welcome any additional thoughts on the matter from anyone else who might have more to add.
In the US, any time human subjects are involved in research, an IRB application is required. There are several levels of review. Depending on the sensitivity of the content and the level of exposure of the participants, the IRB will determine the level of protection required. If you collect data anonymously, that usually requires less oversight by the IRB. You should only be required to seek IRB approval from your institution. However, occasionally an IRB will require review if any of their faculty particpate in a study.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Education
- Higher Education