Your help would be appreciated :)

Hi guys!
My name is Lucy Lai and I'm a high school senior. I'm conducting a study on stress and coping in people with chronic disease. The interest in this topic stemmed from the fact that I live with systemic lupus erythematosus. Since my illness has had such a big impact on my life, I developed a research plan to survey others with chronic illness to measure their levels of stress due to disease and determine if there was any trend in coping. Your input will help me compile information on the lifestyles of those who suffer from chronic disease. If at any time, you wish to stop taking the survey, you may do so. No names or personal information are recorded and all data will be available only me and will be destroyed at the end of the study. This survey takes approximately 7-10 minutes to complete.


Thanks so much for your help! It means the world to me

-Lucy
diagnosed at 16...

Post Edited By Moderator (LanieG) : 1/17/2014 8:35:39 PM (GMT-7)

Asking if the questionnaire has been approved by the admin is a great question. And wondering about google docs security is very valid. However there is no specific identifying info on the questionnaire, unless they are collecting IP addresses.

I have done tons of research with human subjects. At the most, this would be eligible for expedited review if not no review with the IRB (I would ask the institutions IRB board to be sure). They do provide an informed consent paragraph at the beginning of the questionnaire regarding "voluntary," "quit at any time," and "anonymity." It is missing a statement about "no expected harm"

I checked out the school's website (the school is listed on their questionnaire) and it looks like they run a good hs science program. Before this, I personally thought the questionnaire was pretty good for first timers. They do ask you to specify your disease so they can separate out the data by condition.

Doing these types of projects are a great way of learning how to do science today (analyze data, do background research, write up your project). Leave the question nitpicking for Ph.D. candidates and published research ;)