This page contains old IRB information. Please use http://psych.colgate.edu/irb
IRB* Information for Colgate
University
*Institutional Review Board on the use of human participants in research.irb.htm
(Current Chair: Regina Conti, Department of Psychology)
Here you will find information concerning Colgate's policy on the use of human subjects in research and the Institutional Review Board's (IRB) procedures.
Overview
Policy and Exempt Research
It is Colgate's policy (consistent with
Federal Regulations) that all faculty and student research involving
human subjects be reported to the Institutional Review Board. Research that
poses no risk to participants is exempt from review. To report these projects
to the IRB simply send an e-mail describing the project and data collection
methods to Kevin Carlsmith (kcarlsmith). Categories of exempt research include:
(1) Research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings involving normal educational practices.
(2) Research involving the observations of public behavior, or the use of tests, surveys or interview procedures in which the participants cannot be identified.
(3) Research using tests, surveys or interview procedures in which the participants are elected or appointed public officials or candidates for public office.
(4) Research involving the collection of existing data that is publicly
available provided that the information is recorded in such a way that subjects
cannot be identified.
All other research needs to be reviewed by the IRB
using either the expedited or full review procedures.
What does the IRB Consider?
All research covered by
Colgate's policy needs to be reviewed by the IRB, which will determine if the
following requirements are satisfied:
(1) Risks to subjects are
minimized.
(2) Risks to subjects are
reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits, if any, to subjects, and the
importance of the knowledge that may reasonably be expected to result.
(3) Selection of subjects is
equitable, and does not expose vulnerable populations (including children,
prisoners, pregnant women, mentally disabled persons, and otherwise
disadvantaged persons) to undue risk.
(4) Informed consent will be
sought from each prospective subject, or the subject’s legally authorized
representative, and such consent will be documented.
(5) The research plan will
monitor the data collected to ensure the safety and privacy of subjects.
Proposals may be submitted for expedited review if they pose no
more than “minimal risk” to participants or involve only minor changes from
previously approved research. Minimal risk means “that the probability
and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research are not greater
in and of themselves than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during
the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests.”
The following is a list of the four most common (of 10) that are defined as
minimal risk by the HHS:
(1) Research on individual or group behavior or characteristics of individuals,
such as studies of perception, cognition, game theory, or test development,
where the investigator does not manipulate subjects’ behavior and the research
will not involve stress to the subjects.
(2) The study of existing data, documents, records, pathological specimens or
diagnostic specimens.
(3) Voice recordings made for research purposes such as investigations of
speech defects.
(4) Moderate exercise by healthy volunteers.
Proposals requiring expedited review should be
sent to Regina Conti in Psychology.
Research that is not exempt or qualified for expedited review must go through a
full review.
Deadlines for Full Review Proposals
All proposals requiring full review to be conducted during the fall ‘04 semester need to be submitted by Monday, September 27th; the deadline for spring ’05 is Monday, February 14th. For a full review, the original plus four copies of the completed IRB Proposal form should be submitted to: IRB (Attention: Debra Burkhart), Psychology Department, for circulation among the members of the IRB. The review process takes approximately ten days.
IRB Proposal Forms (as downloadable and printable files)