Research Design and Ethics
For some, the research design and ethics process inevitably boils down to one question: “did you do IRB?” Varying amounts of thought, stress, and Googling go into this question. Ethics is an integral part of research design, and all Fulbright researchers encounter ethical challenges over the course of their project. However, research design goes far beyond ethics, and broad factors such as survey planning and time management have a significant influence on one’s overall satisfaction with their research grant. In this survey, Fulbright alumni offered a large range of insights on research ethics and time management, reflecting both the importance and the diversity of approaches to this subject. To reflect these answers in a way that will best support incoming researchers, this post is split into two parts: one regarding the IRB process, and the other regarding research design and time management.
Survey Questions:
IRB:
- With which institution did you complete your IRB approval process?
(n = 31) - What do you know about the differences between the IRB approval process in the US vs. India? Would you recommend one over the other?
(n = 22) - If you worked with human subjects, what ethical concerns did you consider?
(n = 28) - If working with human subjects: How did you ensure informed consent in your field work?
(n = 29) - If working with human subjects: How did you discuss risk with participants?
(n = 22) - What advice would you give future Fulbrighters to lead ethical research?
(n = 24) - How many months before/after the Fulbright start date would you recommend starting the IRB approval process?
(n = 15)
Research Design and Time Management:
- What experience or preparation did you have ahead of time for the methods you used?
(n = 34) - How do you recommend scheduling time for the various components of the research process? For example, planning adequate time for your literature review, survey creation, field work, analysis, and writing.
(n = 31) - What general tips do you have for short-term and long-term time management during the Fulbright grant period?
(n = 26) - How many months did you spend researching and writing your literature review?
(n = 31) - How many weeks do you recommend leaving for data analysis at the end of the Fulbright?
(n = 32)
IRB
Discussing research ethics in India can sometimes be uncomfortable due to a mix of legal, social, and ethical ambiguities regarding topics such as personal privacy and social identity. Although all grantees arrive with a two-page grant proposal in hand, it is almost always the case that the plan will require some tweaking upon arrival. The ethical review process offers a chance to elicit feedback on your proposal and reconsider its applicability in the local context. Graduate-level researchers have often received direct coursework in research methods and may have already been reviewed by a dissertation committee. But for undergraduates, this is likely the first time have engaged on a full-year (and primarily self-guided) research project. Regardless, it is important to keep in mind that the Fulbright committee has chosen projects that they think are appropriate and navigable in the social context, and that they expect researchers will be able to handle ethical challenges that may arise.
Goal of IRB
The goal of the Institutional Review Board is to ensure that any research regarding human subjects which is expected to result in generalizable knowledge effectively takes into consideration the potential risk to research participants. In short, this implies that research should be true and transparent — to our advisors, to our research participants, and to future readers. As ethical individuals, this should already be paramount to the work that the we do. The IRB process seeks to formalize ethical considerations into a legal framework, and in doing so can become somewhat confusing. Almost every large US institution offers a webpage to help navigate the IRB question, often in very different formats. To add, recent undergraduates may no longer be associated with their home institutions, which may make it difficult to apply for IRB consideration. Regardless of your intentions to submit your proposal to IRB, it is important to at least review some of these websites to associate with the kinds of ethical challenges that research poses.
Commitment to the IRB process largely depends on the desired output of the project. It may be an expectation that you will publish in a journal, while others plan to create a multimedia project, case study, or newspaper article. Since IRB is specifically for generalizable knowledge, it is particularly important for journal submissions, but is not necessarily required for case studies or newspaper articles. The only way to find out if IRB is necessary is to speak to advisors, other researchers and professors in your space, and an individual on an IRB board at your home institution.
IRB Experiences
Within the group of 31 respondents, 61.3% completed the IRB process with either their undergraduate institution or their affiliate institution. (Shown below) Individuals in general recommended the US process over India if you are planning to publish in an international journal, since it is more thorough and often more streamlined. However, some Indian institutions have their own ethical review board, which may provide a more personalized review. The majority of respondents recommended leaving at least three months to completing the IRB process, and definitely emphasized reading the IRB guidelines as soon as your Fulbright grant is accepted.
Ethical Considerations
When asked about ethical considerations and participant risk, respondents noted the following:
- Participant’s privacy and anonymity
- Participant’s time
- Participant’s social status and ability to knowingly give informed consent
- Participant’s native language and involvement of a translator
- Participant’s desired portrayal in public work (images, voice, video)
- Use of information-recording material (images, voice, video)
- Safety and privacy of the interview space
- Effects on family, or relationship between participant and a guardian
- Effects on the local social dynamic
- Compensation for involvement
- Researcher’s own position in the community
- Researcher’s inferred or explicit connection to other organizations
The ethical review ensures that your research plan considers these factors, and an ethics board may offer input on how to brainstorm and address challenges that may arise. Creating an informed consent form, or practicing your introduction and receiving verbal consent, are two ways to formalize this process. Especially when in the presence of a translator, it is important that they understand the nature of informed consent and proper representation of the participant’s viewpoints.
Informed Consent Forms
While there are many informed consent forms available online, following are key parts of the consent form which participants noted:
- Researcher’s background
- The process by which the participant was chosen
- The type of information that would be collected
- The intended use of the information
- The ability to ask questions before the interview
- The availability of the form in English and a local language
- The right to say no to the interview or to any question
- The right to anonymity of the participant
- The possible risks for being involved with the interview
Suggestions for Ethical Research
In addition to answering these specific questions, alumni had several suggestions for leading ethical research. The most common was to be thoughtful and intentional in approaching your relationship with your research participants. Regardless of whether or not you complete the IRB process, there will inevitably be grey areas that arise. Many participants noted that it helps to consider the typical worries your participant may have, and to ensure that your research explanation and your expectations of the participant are very clear. Of course, agency and honesty are paramount.
Research ethics also applies to your relationship with a translator, field assistant, or advisor. It is equally important to have clear expectations for relationships with these individuals. For both first-time and experienced researchers, the ethical challenges do not necessarily have a clear answer. Continual, detailed conversations regarding your planning will not only reflect in a thoughtful research project, but will also help ensure that you feel comfortable with the work you are doing as an American researcher.
Some prescient quotes regarding research ethics overall were:
- “Tell your informants’ stories, don’t tell stories about your informants.”
- “What steps will you take to involve your respondents in this process so that they have some agency over how their narratives are used in service of your research?”
- “Talking about the process of your research is equally important as talking about the content.”
- “Consider the legacy of work done with this population. In my case, the people I was working with are constantly approached by health workers, researchers, government officials, and I felt it was unethical to contribute to the mining of information from this vulnerable population.”
- “If using a translator, make sure he/she clearly understands the contents of the informed consent form that participants will sign, and is adept at explaining the research project and answering questions participants may have.”
- “Gaining informed consent should be the first priority, not just consent. Due to the power dynamics of Americans conducting field work in other places, people may agree to speak to the Fulbrighter without even understanding the project, what they will be asked, etc.”
- “Don’t just go through the check boxes of an IRB app, but really think about the specific context and what is ethical.”
- “Engage in a constant, iterative process of reflection while doing research.”
Research Design and Time Management
Since research design can vary enormously, it is difficult to provide guidelines that are generally applicable. What is true of all research designs that alumni mentioned is that they include some preparation, drafting, execution, and analysis. Even experienced researchers spend enormous amounts of time performing and tailoring this process, and — for any given discipline — one could perform a literature review on research design alone.
Through the survey, we gleaned information about the varying level of experience that the Fulbright alumni had prior to their project, particularly with the research methods that they would be employing. About two-thirds of researchers were fairly experienced in their research methods, having performed graduate programs, coursework, or previous large projects. About one-third had some experience with the research methods they performed. Two respondents said they had no experience with the specific methods they were using.
“Preparation” comes in many forms, and those listed by respondents were:
- Conferences
- Conversations with advisors
- Coursework on qualitative or quantitative methods
- Crash course at host institute
- Dissertation review process
- Exploratory fieldwork
- Literature review
- Reading about similar projects for project structure
- Undergraduate or masters research
- Work experience
- Workshops
Time management
A challenging part throughout the Fulbright project is planning and time management, which requires managing both long-term and short-term goals. Two questions addressed the concept of planning and time management during the grant:
1) “How do you recommend scheduling time for the various components of the research process? For example, planning adequate time for your literature review, survey creation, field work, analysis, and writing.” (31 responses)
2) “What general tips do you have for short-term and long-term time management during the Fulbright grant period?” (26 responses)
For a Fulbright research project, time management can take place at three levels: Long-term, mid-term, and short-term. Most respondents noted an overarching goal for the 9 months, as well as 1-month or 3-month “chunks” to plan within, as well as weekly (or even daily) objectives. Gantt charts can be useful tools for organizing various goals for preparation, drafting, execution, and analysis.
Literature review vs. project execution
In terms of preparation, 17 out of 31 respondents noted that they spent about 1 or 2 months on their literature review at the beginning of their project. This was enough to give a good basis for the drafting phase, and during this time respondents began reaching out to representatives from their research sites to plan their research process. Many respondents said that the rest of the project — drafting, execution, and analysis — all influenced what the literature review might require. For this reason, it is important to get acquainted with the research process and field work as early as possible, and not think of each of the research steps in silos. Performing pilot surveys, discussing with other researchers, and providing draft summaries to advisors are encouraged as early as possible to elicit feedback and speed up the learning process.
Difficulties in research planning and execution can arise due to seasonality, lack of communication, dependency on administrators, personal security, and other factors. Because one’s field time is limited by the grant, alumni emphasized a need for continual reflection and a desire to maximize field time. Throughout the process, outside feedback can be extremely instructive, especially for researchers who have not performed work in India before. 66% of respondents noted that they left 4 weeks or less for data analysis and writing, and some noted that they planned to write while back in the US. This leaves ample time to become as involved as possible in field work and discussions with important stakeholders, while still taking time to edit a literature review or begin parts of an analysis.
Alumni benefited from using tools and templates for data collection, storage, and analysis. For example, archival researchers may use web tools for more easily scanning and organizing their transcriptions. Creating a framework to integrate informal notes with formal surveys, as well as build more conclusive summaries, is one of the most difficult parts of managing the research process. Time management methods, such as the “Pomodoro Method” were useful to researchers. Most importantly, researchers noted that so much is to be learned outside of the traditional research process, and that taking time for personal engagement through socializing or volunteering were extremely significant parts of their project. As two respondents noted: “time flies.”
Questions/Comments? Feel free to comment below and one of the researchers can offer more specific feedback!
Note: The views presented here are those of Fulbright alumni, and do not necessarily represent the views of USIEF, the US Dept. of State, of the Fulbright Program.
