IRB Survey Information
The Division of Research Affairs appreciates the feedback and comments obtained from students, faculty, and staff who participated in our survey assessing components of the vIRB web-based application system and the SDSU IRB review process. These comments will help inform improvements to the IRB submission and review processes/ procedures.
The survey was sent to approximately 160 investigators who submitted a protocol within the last 6 months. Questions included items focusing on review time, ease of system navigation, and experiences interacting with the IRB members and analysts. Respondents were also asked to provide basic information about their research activity (e.g., the population included in the research, location of data collection, type of data analysis used). Forty-six individuals responded, representing students, faculty, and staff from various disciplines on campus (i.e., Psychology, GSPH, ENS, Education, SLHS, Social Work, Women Studies, Chicano/a Studies, Communication, Geography).
Below are the some of the highlights of our findings:
We were pleased to find that over 80% of respondents rated IRB members/analysts as responsive to questions and concerns and available and willing to provide clarification in response to questions in an open and pleasant manner.
We were also pleased to find that the majority of respondents felt that the vIRB system was easy to navigate (i.e., selecting review type, understanding what information should be included in each protocol section, overall ease of using the system); however, it is important to address the approximate quarter of respondents who reported difficulty in using the online submission system. Assuming that these responses are representative of our entire research community, this finding indicates the importance of providing additional guidance regarding the submission process.
To address this call for additional instruction, we have begun to develop a FAQ section for IRB issues that is located at IRBfaq.html. The IRB FAQs address common questions, such as how to select review level, tips on navigating the joint review process, and how to renew/modify an approved protocol. In addition, sample protocols representing various types of review levels will be added to the IRB web site so that researchers will have a resource for making review level determinations.
We would also like to acknowledge your input specific to the availability of the vIRB system and various technical problems that have impacted the ease of submission. Our intention when developing the web based system was to improve the application process and overall feedback regarding the system has been positive. We recognize that there are further improvements to be made, and we are continuing to work on these, as we have been since the launch of the vIRB system in 2004. Our next goal is to reduce the number of redundant sections within the application system and refine the guidance provided within each section of the protocol templates.
In addition, the complete results are available at http://gra.sdsu.edu/research.php?sectionid=39&;areaid=2&;subsectionid=373
Given the utility of soliciting feedback regarding IRB support and services, online submission system, and available guidance, we plan to keep our survey permanently open, so that we may continue to address your needs and improve the IRB submission and review process. Please feel free to inform others about the availability of the survey, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=KxntIU_2b7iJmFOssbXmINXw_3d_3d, and we welcome any comment you have regarding the IRB review process.