I am beginning to experience the difficulties that follow a successful dissertation proposal. The intervention itself may not require full IRB approval - I am proposing mild to moderate physical activity in currently inactive middle aged individuals who are deemed fit to begin an exercise program. The problems are arising in response to something I thought was relatively innocuous - my desire to provide participants with new athletic shoes, stop watches (planning a walking/jogging program) and training diaries. More on my dissertation dilemma after the break. Regarding the picture above, thinking of 'monsters' (and my dissertation as the 'monster' project of grad school) made me think of the Freakies - cereal marketed to kids in the 70s. It was, as I remember, another version of Captain Crunch (as were Quisp and Quake, some of my other favorites). I had these toys, but Goodie Goodie's (the pink one) head had a tendency to fall off - her neck was a weak link. Cannot recall the names of the others but there are many vintage Freaky items for sale on Ebay - going for a premium price and all seem to have bids. Another one of those 'wish I had kept them' things. I have planned, and proposed to recruit from university or contract worker staff. There are several appealing factors to this - first, these individuals are likely to have health insurance which makes getting clearance to exercise, if needed, easier to obtain. Second, I can use official channels - management, university communications, etc., - to recruit. Third, these individuals may be in a lower income bracket and have completed less education than faculty so may be less likely to exercise (research suggests that more education is associated with more participation in health promoting activities) and may not make enough money to comfortably pay for facility membership, even including the university recreation facility.
The problems center around university 'gift' policies. I cannot 'give' participants items of high value and even lower valued items create tax concerns. (I see making supplies 'taxable income' a disincentive). Ironically, students do not create a problem. I say 'ironically' because I regularly criticize researchers who rely on convenience samples of students. However, since my interest is in adult populations, students are not a possibility. I hate to eliminate staff from consideration and am not certain I have a large enough pool of participants from contractor staff, so I am checking out other alternatives. I can use 'donated' items and fortunately some of the running shoe companies have donation programs. I am going to actively and aggressively see what I can obtain through these avenues. I had foreseen difficulties in getting funding (had planned to contact foundations and other granting agencies) but had not foreseen difficulties in being able to use the funds. I am glad now that I have not so far made much time to work on grant applications.
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AuthorI am Sheryl L. Chatfield, Ph.D, C.T.R.S. I am a member of the faculty in the College of Public Health at Kent State University. I also Co-coordinate the Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Research and I am a member of the Design Innovation Team at Kent State. Archives
February 2024
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