College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Department of Political Science and Public Affairs
PADM 6840: Research Methods Fall 2022
Lab Exercise 1
The examples below are meant to assist students in understanding the types of activities that do and do not meet the federal definition of research.
ACTIVITIES EXAMPLES IS IT RESEARCH?
[YES/NO] WHY
[Provide Reasons]
Data collection for internal, department, school, or other University administrative purposes ⦁ Teacher evaluations, customer service surveys or workshop evaluations where results will be used to facilitate improvements
Course-related activities designed specifically for educational or teaching purposes, where data is collected from and about people as part of a class exercise or assignment that is not intended for use outside of the
classroom ⦁ Research methods courses in which student assignments include interviews or surveys of individuals but results are not disseminated outside of the class. .
Collecting and publishing personal or professional stories, without intent to draw conclusions or generalize findings Oral histories
⦁ Autobiography
⦁ Photojournalism
1 PRIM&R Webinar “Key Decision Points” Is it Research Involving Human Subjects? Is it Exempt? Is IRB Review Required?” Hale, Karen, RPh, MPH, CIP; Nelson, Daniel, MSc, CIP. February 28, 2013.
2 Petty, Cheri. “You’ll Know it When You See It: Defining Human Subjects Research Under DHHS Regulations.” November 8, 2013. PRIM&R 2013 AER Conference. Boston, MA.
Carrying out fee based services without the expectation of academic recognition or co-authorship or data ownership ⦁ Personnel studies
⦁ Cost-benefit analyses
⦁ Customer satisfaction studies
⦁ Biological sample processing
Case studies (n=1) or outcomes of only one individual that is published or presented ⦁ Interviews or data collected from only one individual.
Institutional research (research conducted about the institution) that involves data collection, analysis, or reporting about educational, administrative, or other aspects of OSU for either internal improvement or external reporting ⦁ Analysis of graduation rates by gender, age or race for reporting purposes
⦁ Analysis of student success in a specific department or course for program improvement purposes
⦁ Analysis of student tests or work samples to assess student outcomes for intra-departmental reporting
⦁ Analysis of institutional databases or archival materials to inform such issues as:
⦁ enrollment management
⦁ faculty or staff planning
⦁ space planning and utilization
⦁ Focus groups, surveys or interviews with faculty or students intended to evaluate and improve programs or services provided by the institution or to assess needs
Program improvement or evaluation projects where the use of results is ⦁ Internal reporting of assessments of community education or
restricted to informing the implementation or content of the program programs, i.e.,
⦁ survey results from senior center participants
⦁ physical activity levels of participants in a walking program
⦁ Data collected to fulfill reporting requirements of a state agency funding a specific program or project
⦁ Collection of information from individuals to inform decision making
⦁ The collection and analysis of data used to assess and improve a program with the intent of, publishing the original analysis and results are presented as quality
improvement, not research
Searches of existing literature ⦁ Review of public meeting minutes
⦁ Review of published journal or newspaper articles
⦁ Review of historical records
⦁ Review of public websites
Research projects that involve the use of publicly available data to analyze public figures ⦁ Analysis of public meeting minutes
⦁ Analysis of local crime or poverty statistics yes collecting data
Research involving data about or samples from deceased individuals ⦁ Analysis of cadaveric tissue
⦁ Review of death certificates
Fact-collecting interviews of individuals where all questions focus on process, objects, products, or policies, rather than an individual’s attitudes, behaviors, or perspectives ⦁ Canvassing librarians to determine the differences between inter- library loan policies or rising journal costs
⦁ Interviewing farmers about their animals
⦁ Audit of the physical activity features in a community
⦁ Interviewing managers about their company’s manufacturing
processes
CASES IS IT RESEARCH?
[YES/NO] WHY
[Provide Reasons]
A faculty member helps a colleague at another institution develop a survey given to the colleague’s students. Students are asked for feedback on the course content, assignments, and tests. (Providing names on the survey is optional.) The faculty member will also help to analyze the survey results; names (if any) will not be removed before surveys are sent to the faculty
member. Results will be used only to improve the course.
The director of the neonatal intensive care unit is concerned about the unit’s efficiency, drug utilization, and quality of care. She is particularly interested in the use of an expensive treatment regimen. She conducted a 3-month study involving the unit’s physicians, nurses, and staff, as well as the medical records
of premature babies. Upon completion of the study, Dr. Bambino used the
data to make improvements in the unit. She then presented the data during pediatric grand rounds.
A graduate student who works part time at an art museum is helping the museum conduct a survey of people who viewed the new Impressionist exhibit. The student employee will interact with patrons to distribute the surveys and will also help to analyze the responses. Individuals who complete the survey and provide their name and address will be mailed a coupon good for $10 off their next visit to the museum. The museum will use the results of the survey to design their new ad campaign, conduct fund-raising, and to plan
future exhibits.
A graduate student intends to interview people about their experiences related to race and identity. She will conduct audio-recorded interviews with individuals from both rural and urban areas of the Middle Ease that the United States and will ask some basic demographic questions and open-ended questions about ethnicity, family, religion, defining experiences related to race (good and bad) and definitions/concepts of race.
Data will be analyzed to look for similarities and differences among various participants as well as compelling stories. The information will be used to create a vignette-based fictional performance piece for the theater that reflects on the nature of race and the self. Interview data will not be used for
any other purposes.
A faculty member will conduct a federally-funded study to describe, compare, categorize and analyze the tobacco use policies/restrictions of the most heavily used public transportation systems in several countries and correlate results to local tobacco use rates. The goal is to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge and results will be published/presented. Data will be collected from existing datasets, websites, policies, and from transit authority personnel (phone/email questionnaires).
Publically available data will be collected from transit authority websites to
document current policies/restrictions regarding tobacco usage. Online publically-available, aggregate data on tobacco use from the respective areas will also be obtained. Transit authority personnel will be contacted to obtain a written copy of any tobacco-related policies and to obtain factual information about how the policies are communicated. An email questionnaire will be sent first, followed by a phone call if no response. Only factual information about policies/organizations will be obtained.3
A researcher is writing a grant and collects preliminary data about a subset of children to test a new measurement mechanism. The measures are noninvasive and occur in a context of typical educational practice. The intent of the data collection is to gather information for a grant proposal to support a rigorous evaluation of the measure. There is no intention to publish this data apart from including it in a grant proposal
3 Petty, Cheri. “You’ll Know it When You See It: Defining Human Subjects Research Under DHHS Regulations.” November 8, 2013. PRIM&R 2013 AER Conference. Boston, MA.
SCENARIOS IS IT RESEARCH?
[YES/NO] WHY
[Provide Reasons]
Original Scenario: The light bulbs in K-5 classrooms are changed from incandescent to florescent.
Evaluators are now interested in whether or not the change in light bulbs influence the behavior in the classroom. Students are asked to complete a pre- and post- survey intended to gauge their attitudes towards the lighting in the classroom. Teachers also complete a pre- and post-survey to rate the behavior changes in their students.
Note: In these scenarios, “results” are defined as the individual participant data (survey responses from students and teachers) in either individual or aggregated form.
Scenario 1: Researchers observe what type of light bulb is in each classroom and measure impacts on classroom behavior.
Results will only be used to inform light decisions to improve classroom behavior within the school of study.
Scenario 2: Researchers observe what type of light bulb is in each classroom and measure impacts on classroom behavior.
Results are used to inform light decisions to improve classroom behavior within the school of study but researchers also intend to publish on how the evaluation occurred, not on the results of the evaluation.
Scenario 3: Researchers observe what type of light bulb is in each classroom and measure impacts on classroom behavior.
Results are intended for publication.
Scenario 4: Classrooms are randomly assigned fluorescent or incandescent light bulbs and researchers measure the impacts on classroom behavior.
Results will only be used for improving the behavior within the school of study.
Scenario 5: Classrooms are randomly assigned fluorescent or incandescent light bulbs and researchers measure the impacts on classroom behavior.
Results are intended for publication.
Scenario 6: Classrooms are randomly assigned fluorescent or incandescent light bulbs and researchers measure the impacts on classroom behavior.
The initial intent was to use results only for improving the behavior within the school of study. Later, researchers decide they want to publish the results.
