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All research on people conducted by members of the Sweet Briar community, even if participants are not associated with Sweet Briar, must be approved by the Research on Human Subjects Committee prior to the beginning of data collection. Faculty supervisors will help student researchers prepare their ethics proposals for review. In general, a proposal should describe the project briefly but in sufficient detail so that the Committee can judge possible risks to participants. The proposal should address any potential ethical concerns, including issues of privacy and confidentiality, and how the student researcher proposes to insure such concerns are ameliorated. All proposals should include a sample of the consent form participants will sign, and copies of any questionnaires or personality scales that will be administered. The Committee makes every effort to respond to proposals quickly, but in planning
researcher projects one should keep in mind that it could take two to three weeks to gain
approval. Also, please note that if one is using participants from the Sweet Briar Nursery
School or kindergarten, permission will need to be granted by the Director of the school
and by the parents of the children after the proposal is accepted by the Research on Human
Subjects committee. Research at local schools will need permission from the school system
and the parents of the children. Research conducted at other colleges will need approval
from the other colleges’ ethics committees. Clearly, there must be careful planning
for such research to be conducted in a timely fashion. |