Please implement the tips below. Thanks
Tips for Qualitative IRB Exempt Application
If you are looking to do a qualitative survey. Make sure to use the wording “Open Ended Questionnaire” versus survey. Make sure you have text box for each question, so participants can describe their experiences.
Whether you are conducting questionnaires or Interviews, make sure to specify what type (design) Qualitative Study you are doing such as Exploratory, Narrative, Grounded Theory, Phenomenological, etc. Interpretive Phenomenological is widely used in IT. Here is information on interpretative phenomenology https://www.google.com/books/edition/Interpretativ…
Please review the Dissertation Handbook Appendix G to review the various types of Qualitative Research designs DoctoralResearchHandbook 8.20.21-1.pdf
Research Description on Exempt Application: Make sure that you are not using words such as challenges or effectiveness as those are words that are measurable in Quantitative research using statistics, words such as the ones listed are considered variables. Even though, we need to have a very focus phenomenon that we are asking the participants to describe their experiences with, we do not need to use measurable words to describe our research for Qualitative. We want the participants to be open in describing their experience.
Target Population: Be very specific in describing your population. You will only need one type group and their lived experience such as a specific job title (role). You can get an approx. size of your population such as IT professionals (for example) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. Then you can state what your minimum sample size will be for your study such as 10, 20……. Make sure to also state if your population is U.S, Global, multi-National etc.
Research Questions: Approx. 2 to 3 Research Questions.
Do not include the word “Challenges” for example when writing you research questions. Your questions for example should be “What are the experiences with… Or what are the strategies or techniques”. These are merely examples to ensure participants are not guided in their responses.
Interview or Questionnaires:
If using Interview or questionnaires, make sure you have 2-3 questions that align with each Research question that you list. Meaning 2 to 3 interview questions that would answer Research question 1 and the same for Research questions 2 and 3.
Make sure to close your questionnaire or survey with an open-ended question such as “Is there anything else you would like share?”
Feel free to also use probing questions in interview such as “Can you tell me more”.
Once you have all of your interview questions, place those questions in an interview guide (word document) which will be listed as an appendix item in your dissertation.
An interview guide is usually just a one-page document showing your interview plan. Include how you will introduce your interview questions so list your Introduction at the top, interview questions, then any probing questions you plan to use.
Please have a consent letter ready for interviews. Pleae make sure the first page of your questionnaire is a consent for partipants to agreee or not agree to take the questionnaire. If they do not agree, the form should exit them out.
Subject Recruitment: Include how population will be recruited such as Linkedin. Many times, you can post your recruitment letter in IT groups on LinkedIn. Please have a recruitment letter and include it with IRB submission.
If you are reaching out to a specific company, then you will need to attach a letter of cooperation from the company that gives permission for you send your recruitment letter to their employees. Keep in mind that it may not be easy to receive this permission (collaboration) from a company
Make sure to include the following in IRB Drafts: You can email me these Drafts for final review
IRB Exempt Application
Consent Form
Recruitment Letter
Link to Questionnaire or Interview Questions
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