STUDY PLANNING & DESIGN: A SERIES OF ACTION STEPS
This guide is meant to aid the writing of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) proposal. An IRB is a committee that reviews research proposals in order to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects. The members of an IRB evaluate the risks and benefits of your research, the treatment of your subject population, the soundness of your methodology, and the value of the knowledge you expect to contribute. Receiving IRB approval is a prerequisite to the publication of your study in a peer-reviewed journal (such as the Annals of Emergency Dispatch & Response).
Research demands a lot of preparation. Without a solid roadmap, the task might seem formidable. Therefore, the instruction presented here breaks down research planning into a series of manageable actions. These actions help you flesh out your ideas and plan out the logistics involved. For instance, if you are on this page, you might not know how to begin a study. To help you, the first section (Defining the Objectives) guides you through the preliminary stages of a research project where you must come up with specific and actionable objectives. Or you might want assistance understanding how your study compares to other research. The fourth section (Putting Your Work in Context) describes procedures to find meaningful connections between your ideas and the work of credible researchers. After completing the actions presented here, you will have thought through the critical features of your study design, and you will be ready to write and effective and persuasive IRB proposal.
What are these critical components of such a proposal? An effective and persuasive IRB proposal should possess or reflect:
- Actionable and specific research objectives
- A detailed, credible data collection procedure and data analysis plan
- An understanding of the ethics involved
- An understanding of the context of your research—like the knowledge you plan to contribute to the field of emergency dispatch
Mirroring these components, the “action steps” given here are divided into four main sections: Defining the Objectives, Choosing the Method, Understanding the Ethics, and Putting Your Work in Context. Once a reader has carefully gone through these steps, we believe that the writing of the actual IRB proposal will prove not too difficult. We hope that this framework is user-friendly, and we wish you well on your research journey!
1) DEFINING THE OBJECTIVES
- Action One: Identify the Problem
- Action Two: Brainstorm the Problem
- Action Three: Set the Goal
- Action Four: Focus the Goal
- Action Five: Write the Specific Objectives
Section Goal: You will write a set of specific and actionable research objectives, which can later be inserted into an IRB proposal.
Section Prerequisites: None.
Go to Section 12) CHOOSING THE METHOD
- Action One: Determine the Appropriate Data to Collect
- Action Two: Plan Where to Obtain the Data
- Action Three: Plan How to Analyze the Data
- Action Four: Write a Detailed Data Collection Procedure
- Action Five: Write a Detailed Data Analysis Procedure
Section Goal: You will write data collection and data analysis procedures for your study (which we recommend you do with the assistance of a mentor). These procedures can be used to complete the Methodology section of an IRB proposal.
Section Prerequisites: A set of research objectives.
Go To Section 23) UNDERSTANDING THE ETHICS
- Action One: Assess the Benefits of Your Research
- Action Two: Assess the Risks of Your Research to Human Subjects
- Action Three: Determine if Informed Consent is Needed
- Action Four: Write a Detailed Description of the Benefits and Risks
Section Goal: You will write the carefully considered benefits and risks of your proposed research. This description can be used to demonstrate to an IRB board that your study meets its ethical standards.
Section Prerequisites: A set of research objectives, a data collection plan, and a data analysis procedure.
Go To Section 34) PUTTING YOUR WORK IN CONTEXT
- Action One: Identify the Central Terms and Concepts of Your Study
- Action Two: Determine a List of Synonyms for Your Keywords
- Action Three: Search Google Scholar to Identify Relevant Sources
- Action Four: Narrow or Broaden the Search as Needed
- Action Five: Write Detailed Answers to Introduction Key Questions
Section Goal: You will compile a list of relevant peer-reviewed sources. Using these sources, you will write detailed answers to the Introduction Key Questions. The answers you have will assist you in writing the Introduction to your IRB proposal.
Section Prerequisites: None (Though to give the best answers to the Introduction Key Questions, we recommend completing sections 1-3 beforehand).
Go To Section 4