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“That seemed like too many,” said Institutional Assessment Director Mary Heather Smith, “and it also became clear that different surveys were sometimes asking the same questions, or asking for information that had already been collected, and that was just a waste of the respondents’ time.”

This issue was brought to a council comprised of university deans, and an agreement was made that anyone wishing to do a non-academic survey of Hamline members would have to file a formal request with the deans council. Upon approval, staff members of Institutional Research that would assist those who filed the requests by providing them with data that had already been collected through a prior study. Additionally, Institutional Research is in charge of scheduling run times for approved surveys to prevent overlap and answering any questions the surveyor might have.

Not all surveys have to go through this process, however. Most surveys within the CLA will be opinion or straight information surveys of other CLA students. These types do not require special planning or authorization. Students performing this type of study purely for academic research within their own school are allowed to do so with only the permission from the professor teaching the course, with a few exceptions.

First, any e-mail that a student wishes to send to over 100 addresses must first be accepted by Jen Thorson, the associate vice president of marketing and communications. This is a step that must be taken, Thorson said, in order to ensure the student isn’t deemed a “spammer”čwhich would make the survey void and could have further implications for the student or university. For this, students should fill out the survey request form available for download from the Institutional Research Office’s website.

Additionally, any student who relies on human subjects as the basis for their research may have to have their study approved by Hamline’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to data collection. This is detailed in the Policies and Procedures Manual, a document which, among other things, safeguards against any mistreatment of survey groups who have been targeted in the past. Any project based on the study of “prisoners, children, individuals institutionalized as mentally disabled,” and other groups can be subject to additional steps in order to fully protect the individuals studied.

Most student projects do not involve groups in a way that could pose threats to the subjects, but some projects will require approval from the IRB regardless. Full practices and exemptions of the board can be found by reading the Faculty Policies and Procedures Manual. On campus, the person to direct questions about the board, human subject studies, and other related information to is Matt Olson from the Psychology Department, who is also chair of the IRB.

“Most research methods courses in education, psychology, sociology or communications are exempt from review,” Olson said. One thing to watch for, however, is if you are funded from an outside governmental group. In that case, you must be approved by the board.

“Even if a research plan seems to be exempt, it must come to our IRB if the procedure creates potential risk- broadly defined toinclude stress, discomfort, etc- for the participant,” Olson said.

As with any new policy, there is a range of opinions on this matter. It can be viewed either as an important step to avoid apathy in those surveyed due to repetitive questions, or a long process that could possibly hinder a student’s ability to promptly execute a survey.

For many, the first time they find out about the new policy is when they attempt to put a survey through, adding stress due to confusion and deadlines.

“Faculty received e-mail notification of the policy’s existence, but I do not know if students were informed or how they were informed other than through classes where survey research was taking place,” said Professor Karen Vogel of the political science department. Vogel also said she worries that the policy has the potential to infringe on “academic freedom issues, depending on how it is implemented and used,” but has abided by the procedures as they apply to her courses.
Regardless, there “hasn’t been a lot of reaction,” Smith said. “Some people feel like it’s just adding another form to fill out. Some people have been pleased to find out that the information they were looking for had already been gathered.”

The vast majority of these projects do go through in the end. This year, 26 official requests have been filed and approved. One other request was denied due to timing, and a few other students decided on their own not to go through with their plans.

For some, the issue over the new policy is not in the measures themselves but in the way they could inadvertently affect a student’s opportunity to fully research a topic in time to comfortably present it.

“I wish that faculty had had more input into its creation, especially since so many of us work with students on survey research projects,” Vogel said. “My hope is that next year we will be given the opportunity to revisit the policy and discuss its implications more carefully.”

Additional information about this new policy, along with information about other survey guidelines, can be found by calling the Office of Institutional Research at x2919, or by visiting their homepage via the “Offices and Services” link off of the university homepage.