Institutional Review Board
Any research, surveys, interviews, focus groups, or other data-collecting activities that involve the participation of students or employees at the College must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). That means most studies or research projects that include collecting data from students or employees require a formal IRB review.
A number of state and federal regulations exist to protect privacy and other rights of human subjects, and the College's Institutional Review Board helps ensure those requirements and considerations are observed. Following the procedures and protocols outlined here helps to protect human subjects, researchers, and Montgomery College.
The Process
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) then submit it to the Office of Institutional Research and Analysis, either on paper or online.After reviewing your completed application the IRB will let you know its status. Your project will probably fall into one of three categories:
1. Exempt: You project is exempt from IRB review.
2. Expedited Review: Your project may need to be or can be reviewed more quickly than others.
3. Full Review: Your project needs a more detailed review.
The application process is also available as a flow chartnew window (PDF, ).
For Research Participants
Research involving human participants (often referred to as "subjects") is conducted by many colleges as well as departments and individuals at Montgomery College.
If you are considering participating in a research study, remember that participation is completely voluntary - you can choose not to participate or, if you do decide to participate, you can choose to stop participating at any time.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) offers more information onlinenew window. They present a series of short videos with basic information about research. These videos are intended to help potential participants understand how research works, what questions they should consider asking, and things to think about when deciding whether to participate in a study.