Behind the Scenes

          Behind the Scenes        Head to Head        Postmodern Riff           

Filling out the IRB in one sense feels like carving an intricate mask. A mask of an empirical scientist who has a sound hypothesis and who will test it with his study. Some research as Carter Locke argued in his 2006 Computers and Writing conference speech in Lubbock Texas is done by the explorer, the one who simply crosses the mountain and draws a picture of the terrain or keeps a journal of what she saw. For our project the IRB board suggested that we seal the student approval forms and not open them until after grades were turned in. This feels just. The students were protected from feeling that the we could possible penalize them for being unwilling to allow us to use their work.