Section VII of the IRB application, which is comprised of q.
40-42, is on your research participants. This information is in your c. 3,
let's work through what is expected.
q. 40a asks that you provide the number of participants
needed, including any pilot participants you will have.
q. 40b asks that provide a rationale for the number(s) you
gave in 40a. This should be from a power analysis for a quantitative study
(provide how you calculated it) and from the literature for qualitative
studies.
q. 40c describe how you will find your participants. Typical
responses include flyers or advertisements.
q. 40d describe the sampling strategy selected and a
rationale for why it was selected. Since there is often confusion about this. I
will give you a few common examples.
In random sampling,
all members of a population have an equal probability of participating. An
example of this might be a large scale survey.
In stratified
sampling, specific categories ("strata") are used. So for
example, you may decide that you want to represent the population in your
geographic area, with a specific percentage of males and females, and different
races/ ethnicities.
Convenience sampling is a type of nonprobability sampling
which involves the sample being drawn from that part of the population which is
close to hand. That is, a sample is selected because it is readily available
and convenient. It may be through meeting the person or including a person in
the sample when one meets them or chosen by finding them through technological
means such as the internet or through phone. The researcher using such a sample
cannot scientifically make generalizations about the total population from this
sample because it would not be representative enough. For example, if you were
to conduct such a survey at a shopping center early in the morning on a given
day, the people that you could interview would be limited to those there at
that given time, which would not represent the views of other members of
society in such an area.
Snowball sampling is commonly used in qualitative
research. In this method, a few individuals from a known group are asked to
recruit or suggest possible participants form their social network.
q. 41 asks that you list all of your inclusion criteria,
these are your list of who can participate in your study (be specific- able to
read and write English? Belonging to certain groups, etc.).
Then list all of your exclusion criteria, this is who cannot
participate, again be specific.
Finally, describe how you will identify who needs to be
excluded. Typically, there is some self-selection involved, for example, able
to read English in an ad and to complete survey. You also should ask a few
questions to determine if they fit your criteria, such as their gender,
membership in certain groups, etc.
q. 42 asks that you describe how the participant
demographics will be relevant in obtaining an appropriate sample. So for
example, let's say you are interested in interviewing only women who work in a
male dominated profession, it would be important to know their gender and their
job title. You may choose to only interview the first few women who volunteer
with certain key job titles, for example, truck driver, dock worker, etc.
Next time we will continue examining the IRB application,
with q. 43. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to
discuss in a future post? Would you like
to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu
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