Student Involvement in Research

The following questions about student involvement were recently asked by a School of Social Work research project.

1. When should a student seek human subjects approval?

Students who pose their own research questions or test hypotheses should submit their own applications (exemptions, minimal risk, or full review). Typically, because students work on data sets with no identifiers and have no contact with human subjects, these applications will meet exemption criteria. If the application does not meet exemption criteria, it is likely that it can be reviewed as minimal risk. All students working with data from human subjects are encouraged to sign an oath of confidentiality.

2. We've hired a student on our research project. Should we add the student's name to the existing human subjects approval?

If the student is simply doing a paid job, will not be developing research questions or testing hypotheses and, thus, not co-authoring publications, has no contact with human subjects, and does not have access to subject identifiers, it is not necessary to name the student on existing approvals. The student should, however, be encouraged to sign an oath of confidentiality.

3. Our student will have access to subjects or to personally identifiable information. Should she be named on the existing human subjects approval?

All persons who have contact with subjects (thus, all interviewers), and those who have access to personally identifiable information, must be named on the human subjects application. As individuals are hired, they can be added via a modification form. However, it is not necessary to name people hired to do specific tasks, even when these tasks require access to the data (e.g., statisticians), provided the data do not have identifiers and there will be no contact with subjects. Again, all staff, regardless of whether named on human subjects applications, are encouraged to sign an oath of confidentiality.

4. We would like to include our student as a co-author on papers reporting research findings. What are our options?

If the student co-authors papers for presentation or publication, the Human Subjects Division considers him/her to be equivalent to an investigator on the project and named on the human subjects application. There are two ways to handle this: (1) submit a modification to an existing application adding the student's name as an investigator, or (2) have the student submit his/her own human subjects application. Often the latter will be exempt or require only minimal risk review.

5. Our project would like to name a student as a co-investigator. How do we do that?

Submit a modification to the existing approved application adding the student's name.   A modification can be submitted by completing a modification form, which can be downloaded from the HSD's website at http://www.washington.edu/research/hsd/index.php or by writing a memo for submission. Choose any title that describes what the student's role is (e.g., interviewer, research trainee, etc.).  Provide Diane Weste with a copy of the form or memo.  More information on modifications is available in the Human Subjects Manual in Section III "G. Modifying an approved application."

Following is more information about student involvement in research projects:

Independent student research

Human subjects clearance requirements apply to theses and dissertations. When you have decided on your research topic, read the information on this website about the three levels of clearance. Contact Diane West who can help you choose which level is appropriate. Note that full human subjects clearance may take 3 months after the application is delivered to the Human Subjects Division, meaning that you must begin the process early.

Research practica (required 2-quarter sequence in doctoral program)

Students who pose their own research questions or test hypotheses using secondary data can (1) submit a request for exemption, minimal risk or full review, whichever is appropriate, or (2) receive clearance under a blanket application covering these projects. Contact Diane West for more information about a blanket application.

Other types of research classes

The intent of the project is critical to determining whether human subjects approval is needed. If the intent is to teach a research skill (e.g., how to interview), and not to produce generalizable findings, then human subjects clearance is not necessary. The course instructor will advise students on recruitment, consent and confidentiality issues. If the student is testing a hypothesis or asking a research question that he or she has developed and will likely publish or present these findings outside of the class, human subjects approval is required. Consult the exemption, minimal risk and full review pages of this website and then contact Diane West if you need more information.