IRB Review Paper

1. What is an IRB?

An IRB is an institutional review board. In other words, a board that evaluates federally funded research. The U.S. Congress instituted IRBs. They were designed to safeguard human research participants from potentially dicey, dangerous, or research that does not regard respect and pride (Royse, Thyer & Padgett, 2009).

2. Identify the three types of IRB review.

The three types of IRB interview are research objective, methodology, and protocol (Royse et al, 2009).

3. If you were to create a plan to evaluate a program or intervention, what level of IRB review would it need? Why?

If I were to create a plan to evaluate a program or intervention, the level of IRB review would be expedited. It would be deemed this level, because it would involve minimal risk. The likelihood that the research would cause any more stress than everyday life is very low. I would be conducting programs and interventions in schools. Because children would be involved, I would not qualify for an exemption from an IRB. My program would not differ much from a child’s daily school activities, and therefore there would be no threat of misconduct or threat (Royse et al, 2009).

4. Imagine if your evaluation plan included the use of special populations. Identify ethical challenges you might face.

Working with special populations increases these risks. Prisoners, children, and mentally disabled individuals are at increased risk for harm in research. Exemptions are not granted for these populations, because it is very important they are protected and a review is performed. There is a focus on three major cornerstones of ethics in research and they are beneficence, respect, and justice. When working with special populations it is imperative to ensure these standards are met, and extra steps may need to be taken to see that this is the case (Royse et al,