All research requests at 黑料社 involving human subjects must be approved by Lower Columbia College's Institutional Review Board.
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) has been in place since academic year 2005-06 to help ensure the College's compliance with Policy 320 regarding the Protection of Human Subjects.
The IRB considers requests from any individual interested in conducting research within the 黑料社 community involving human subjects, including surveys.
Please use the link below to access the application to have a project reviewed by 黑料社's Institutional Review Board.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the Institutional Review Board
Projects done for class credit that involve conducting research on human subjects, such as surveys or interviews, must seek approval from the IRB. Students must have faculty approval to submit an IRB application.
Sometimes students feel like they need to create their own data for courses like statistics; however, collecting your own data means you have to seek IRB approval (which can take time and effort). There are lots of ways to gather data that don't require going to the IRB. Here are a couple of suggestions.
- Simple observation. To create a simple data set, observe something happening for a set period of time, like 30 minutes. Count how many people bring their own bags to the grocery store, vs. paying for store bags. Or count how many cars vs. trucks pass through a particular intersection.
- Download a data set. Here are some authorized (governmental) websites that allow you
to download data:
People from outside 黑料社 that seek to conduct research on any person or group within the 黑料社 community must seek IRB approval.
If you have received IRB approval from another entity, please include documentation with your 黑料社 application. You must still seek approval from 黑料社 before proceeding with your project.
黑料社's Institutional Review Board is made up of representatives from institutional research, faculty, classified staff, and exempt staff. The department head for institutional research typically serves as chair.
黑料社's review process is typically not lengthy, but please allow at least two weeks before you plan to start on your project.
Projects that do not comply with federal laws and college policy regarding protecting human subjects will not receive approval. For example, asking people to disclose illegal activity (which is protected by federal law) or asking questions that could negatively affect a person's mental state (such as asking them about past abuse or trauma) will generally not be approved. 黑料社 is a community college, not a research or medical university. Other types of entities have access to resources to conduct those types of studies that 黑料社 just doesn't have.
Students and employees who violate 黑料社's Human Subject Protection policy, like other college policies, are subject to disciplinary action.