Research timelines
Lately I’ve been having conversations with students and colleagues who are getting their latest research projects up and running. Some are working through their IRB applications, others are waiting for IRB approvals, still others are waiting on participants to complete surveys or interviews. Despite being at various places in their respective projects they all have one common concern/complaint.
TIME. The time it takes to complete the IRB application, the time it takes to get IRB approval, or the time it takes to find and recruit participants. Everything revolves around time, and usually it’s about someone else taking too much of it.
All research, but especially primary data collection, takes more time than we hope. Part of this is a function of the fact that everyone is busy and grabbing their attention is getting harder. The other part is that despite how awesome we know our own research is, other people probably don’t have the same investment in it that we do. Relatedly I think time becomes harder to navigate when we aren’t the ones in direct control of moving the project forward. It’s the waiting that gets us.
So, what can we do about the inevitable need to wait for our research to move forward 😫. Here are a few things that I’ve learned over time:
1. Plan, plan, plan – All research needs planning. Considering IRB first think about the busy times for your local board. I would include the first few weeks of classes and any time before and after breaks start (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break). Don’t forget about the ebb and flow of student research projects connected to classes who do their IRB approvals in bulk.
Also remember that the more completely you think through your research project (ex. having your survey fully drafted), the less likely you will get questions back from the IRB.
2. Streamline recruitment - If speedy data collection is the goal, consider using a research panel. Market research firms collect groups of people (panels) who commit to doing research projects when asked. They are fast and efficient. I’ve worked on projects wherein hundreds of responses were collected within a few days.
However, it is important to keep in mind that panels cost based on your sample size and the number of questions in your survey or interview. On the upper end we’ve received quotes from $10-$15k.
If you aren’t working with a panel you will need to make some connections with the community from which you hope to recruit your participants. This means getting out into the community and making friends (see this post for details). People won’t complete you survey just because you ask. They need to understand why your work matters to them or how they are helping you achieve a bigger goal. People want to help, but they need to know you first.
3. What can be done in the waiting – So you’ve done all the planning you can. Great. There are just some parts of the research process that take time, so rather than worrying about how quickly recruitment is going (or not) get busy writing up your manuscript. Redo your literature searches, edit your background, write your methods, start getting your code written…Keep busy. With this stuff done you can just plug and play (as they say) once the data is collected.
4. Monitor progress and adapt as needed – Keeping busy with other parts of your research doesn’t mean you stop paying attention to your data collection. Monitor submitted surveys and completed interviews. Are you on track for target sample? If yes, keep going. If no, figure out what’s happened. Sometimes participants will need a reminder. Other times a particular population of people has been tapped out and you will need to find a new source of participants. This happens. It’s not bad, it just is. As you make these adjustments don’t forget you may need to amend your IRB.
5. Have multiple projects going at the same time – In my experience productivity is predicated on having multiple projects going on simultaneously. That way you’re planning one project, collecting data in another, and writing up a third (theoretically). I know this seems like a lot, but assuming you have tapped into your student and colleagues, it’s not that difficult. (Want some help with that tapping into your network for upping productivity? Reach out here).
This leg work is work, no doubt. But getting it done will help you to expedite your data collection immensely.
(Words: 747)