Wow, what a world of bureaucracy to navigate in academia. Alex & I had submitted and gained approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Truman on October 5. The next day, we decided to change our methodology in order to complement COPLAC’s vision of outward-facing research. So instead of confidentially collecting data, we decided to instead ask for participants’ consent in order to film and publish these interviews online.
The IRB authorities said that we would need to submit a new application.
I understand that the IRB is used to protect everyone; the research participants, the researchers, and the university. However, I don’t understand the reasoning behind so much paperwork to film and publish interviews of people. News stations and outlets like National Public Radio publish oral histories all the time. I’m sure that they obtain written consent from the participants, like Alex & I will do, but collecting oral histories would be so much easier if it were possible to sidestep the IRB process.
Our next deadline is October 20, and the reviewers will meet on October 26. Therefore, we will have to start collecting oral histories later than we would have liked.
In terms of website progression, I am still learning a lot about WordPress. Right now, the foremost challenge is somehow being able to expand the size of the videos our TimelineJS post so that website visitors may view the videos without having to leave the page. There is a currently an option to click on the videos, which allows viewers to watch the videos at a reasonable size on Youtube. However, this leads them to another page. I would prefer that our blog visitors stay on our blog page and get the most out of it rather than getting lost in the sea of endless possibilities that is the internet.
Y’all are to be commended for your perseverance. I’m wondering if you will also need some training in using the video equipment or if perhaps you are already familiar with the cameras and audio?