Submission of Ethics Application for Research Project

Dear GEMsters,

Please note that the deadline for your submission of your Ethics Application for approval by the HSS Ethics Committee is due by 2359hrs on 31st December 2009 - Yes, NEW YEAR'S EVE!

All submissions are to be sent to me (Kevster) via email.

You can read all about the HSS Ethics Committee here:
http://www-hss.tp.edu.sg/hss_home/hss_about_us/hss_ethics.htm

Before you set out on what to do for your project, your research methods have to be evaluated and approved by the HSS Ethics Committee. Essentially, we want to ensure that all of your projects abide by the following four ethical principles:

(a) adequacy of the informed consent,

(b) minimum risk evaluation,

(c) appropriate briefing and debriefing, and

(d) appropriate handling of research data and the maintenance of confidentiality.

Once your project is approved by the Ethics Committee, your group will be allowed to go ahead with your research.

As discussed in your tutorials, the themes of your projects should be gerontologically-based.

You can use one of the following research methods (or a combination of two):

1) Intensive and open-ended interviews

2) Questionnaires (online surveys, telephone surveys, postal surveys, classroom surveys etc.)

3) Face-to-face short interviews in public

There is a specific ethics application form that all groups have to fill up, along with a template for a research proposal that you need to complete.

You can find them here:

http://www-hss.tp.edu.sg/hss_home/hss_about_us/hss_ethics/hss_ethics_res_children.htm

At this page, all you need to do is to download the following:

1) The Ethics Approval Form in ITEM 3.

2) The Research Proposal template in ITEM 3 - you can also find samples for consent forms, questionnaires, briefing and debriefing scripts here.

Finally, all you need to do next is to fill them up and submit them by NEW YEAR'S EVE.

I will be emailing the class a sample of how this has been done. So please check your mail.