CINQ 388–Week 6 blog
1) Does your work require IRB approvals? If Yes, articulate your detailed IRB strategy. If No, explain why you don’t need IRB approval and identify situations when you might need IRB approval.
Question1: The purpose of our project is to teach people about the Lehigh River watershed using immersive virtual reality. We are going to be introducing the world of iVR to many for the first time. For some, playing in iVR will be “old hat”. We will be conducting focus groups to get input on the iVR experience and we will be assessing what individuals have learned about the watershed as a result of our program. We will be doing a systematic investigation which will include research development, testing and evaluation with the intention of contributing to generalizable knowledge. So the answer to the first of the three basic IRB questions, does the activity involve research, is yes.
Question 2: We will be conducting research from living individuals and obtaining information through interaction with the individual. We will also use, study and analyze the information. So the answer to question 2 is also yes, the research involves human subjects.
Question 3, Is the human subjects research exempt or does it require either expedited or full IRB review, is a bit more difficult to answer. However, the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research is not greater than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological exams or tests. Some individuals may experience discomfort or motion sickness as a result of iVR, but simply removing the VR goggles will alleviate the discomfort almost immediately. It seems like our human subjects research might be exempt
