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EDU738: Procedures for Data Collection
Step #1:
Principal investigator (PI) receives email notification of approval from IRB. (Absolutely required!!!)
Step #2:
PI and other group members check the SurveyMonkey data collection instrument(s) to be sure that the ‘collector’ is working. Be sure that your survey includes (1) a brief introduction including contact information in case the participant wishes to contact you, and (2) a thank you at the end! (See “EDU738 Guidelines for Collecting Data: Using SurveyMonkey and Inviting Participants” for more details.
Step #3:
PI notifies me that the group has received IRB approval and that everything is ready for data collection.
When I receive this notification, I will send the PI a list of email addresses (unless another address has been requested) for all students in both online sections of EDU738.
Step #4:
The PI, or designee, prepares short ‘invitation’ to the study. The short invitation should include:
(1) A very brief description of the study;
(2) The PI’s gmail address so participants will know where to send back the signed Informed Consent form;
(3) A consent form with a return due date and the date that you want potential participants to complete the survey or experimental task.
(4) Attach an MS Word version of the Informed Consent form that the PI has already signed.
(5) Remember that you need to have students reply to your informed consent form. You have two options; you can both include the informed consent form in your email and have your invitees return it to you. (They can ‘sign’ it by typing in their name or by using the ‘scribble’ tool in MS Word.) Or, for those who you will be surveying, you can embed the informed consent form in your SurveyMonkey instrument as the very first item which you set up as a required ‘yes/no’ item. If student checks off the ‘yes’ item, they will have agreed to participate and you can use those responses. If the student checks off ‘no’, you can’t use the responses. Since it is a required item, participants can’t continue until they have indicated their willingness to participate or not. If the person checks ‘no’ then there should be a ‘branch’ to exit the survey. Even if you use the ‘embedded’ format, you should include a copy of the informed consent form in your email invitation. I have included two versions a sample email invitation at the end of this file.
Step #5:
PI sends the group’s ‘invitation’ and the Informed Consent form to fellow classmates. (See “EDU738 Guidelines for Collecting Data: Using SurveyMonkey and Inviting Participants” for more details.
Step #6:
Those students who choose to participate in your study will ‘sign’ the IRB form and return it to the PI (NOT to me).
Step #7:
Once the PI receives the signed Informed Consent form, the PI will email the participant a link to the group’s survey on SurveyMonkey along with any other information that the participant will need to complete the survey or experiment. Be sure to include a ‘thank you’ in the email back to participants.
The PI should also include an email address or, preferably, a telephone number in case the participant is having any difficulty with the task.
Step #8:
Sit back and wait for the responses to ‘pour’ in!