Where Rigor becomes Rigor Mortis:
Institutional Review Boards and Qualitative Research
James D. Swartz, Ph.D.
Miami University
There are at least two salient issues that are relevant to the current relationship between qualitative research and Institutional Review Boards in the United States. What are the various concepts that define qualitative research and how are those concepts changing? In discussions at The American Education Research Association with people from campuses around the world, I have noticed their conceptualization of qualitative research varies dramatically. Therefore, the first problem for an Institutional Review Board (IRB) seems to be how qualitative research is defined. Because most IRBs are composed of faculty members, not only does their understanding of research in general differ but so does their definition of qualitative research. The second issue seems to be how colleges and universities define an Institutional Review Board? Universities impose responsibilities, rules and regulations that are not consistent with their peer institutions. For example, some colleges and universities see the IRB not only as the local representative of the Federal Office for Human Research Protections (Department of Health and Human Services) but also as "research quality" police. What constitutes qualitative research and what constitutes an IRB are major issues for researchers who are applying for research clearance from an IRB. What is the abrasion between the first and second issue at any one college or university, and how does one move a qualitative proposal through an IRB? That is what impacts each person who engages in qualitative research at a university with an IRB.
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Swartz is an Ohio native (Bath, Ohio) who graduated from Kent State University in Speech/Telecommunications and received his Masters and Ph D from the Ohio State University in the field of Instructional Design and Technology. As a professor at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, he taught qualitative research courses to doctoral students for 15 years. Currently, he is a professor of educational psychology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and is Chair of Miami's Institutional Review Board (IRB) Committee. Dr. Swartz has been active in the American Educational Research Association and the Society for the Philosophy and History of Education. Research interests include neo-pragmatic foundations for qualitative research, grounded theory, and the use of technology for communication within educational environments. For the last 20 or so years he has presented at the American Educational Research Association and has published articles in journals related to Instructional Design and Technology (see vita).
For Dr. Swartz's home page and CV, visit http://www.units.muohio.edu/EAP/EDP/fac-staff/swartz.html.