Communication Scholars' Narratives of IRB Experiences

摘要

I am writing regarding a negative experience I had with my university's IRB. My usual mode of research is quantitative, but I needed to do some qualitative focus groups for my latest project. I completed the 8 page IRB protocol asking permission to conduct focus groups with adults (21 and over) of various ages. I wanted to do focus groups on young adults and senior citizens. I suspect that the IRB did not think I would be capable of doing focus groups given my quantitative background. Over a 4 month time period I had to re-write the protocol 5 times. They kept asking about minors (the first 4 revisions had this question in it), although I had stated on page one that I would be working with adults only. I finally got approval to do my focus groups as long as I did them anonymously. No amount of questioning gave me an adequate answer as to how to do this.