Language Studies in the Labs in Life Pod at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI)

Human Subjects Research Agreement

Project Title:

Supervising Faculty Researcher:

Other Key Personnel:

I. Overview

Language Studies in the Labs in Life Pod at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI), IRB Protocol 2012B0213 (“Pod Protocol”), is an umbrella IRB protocol that will cover all of the research conducted in the Language Pod at the COSI Labs in Life exhibit. IRB approval for individual research projects must be obtained by amending the Pod Protocol to add the specific project.

All research projects added to the Pod Protocol must be submitted by an OSU faculty member who agrees to be responsible for oversight of the project (“supervising faculty researcher”). This agreement lays out the responsibilities of the supervising faculty researcher for research projects conducted under the Pod Protocol and ensures that all researchers involved in such projects are familiar with the policies and regulations governing human subjects research.

II. Responsibilities of the Supervising Faculty Researcher

1. The supervising faculty researcher and all undergraduate and graduate students involved in the project must be listed as key personnel on the Pod Protocol. All key personnel on all IRB protocols must have completed the CITI online human subjects training course ( and an annual electronic Conflict of Interest disclosure (

2. The supervising faculty researcher is responsible for putting together the project-specific materials, submitting them to the PI (Cynthia Clopper) to sign, and ensuring that only IRB-approved materials are used in the Language Pod. Information about the required components of project-specific amendment applications is provided in section IV below.

3. The supervising faculty researcher is responsible for overseeing the project, training the undergraduate and graduate students in responsible research practices, and ensuring compliance with all IRB policies and regulations governing human subjects research. Under OSU and Federal regulations, non-compliance may result in the suspension of all research conducted under the Pod Protocol.

4. The supervising faculty researcher is responsible for ensuring the availability of students and/or staff to conduct participant recruitment and data collection on site at the Language Pod.

5. The supervising faculty researcher is responsible for securely storing the data and the documentation of informed consent. Data and documentation of informed consent must be maintained for at least three years after the completion of the project. The IRB conducts not-for-cause audits, so the supervising faculty researcher may be asked to provide these documents (or the consented participants list, if documentation of consent was waived) in the case of an audit.

6. The supervising faculty researcher is responsible for submitting annual continuing review materials to the PI as required and in a timely fashion. These materials will include, but are not limited to, the numbers of participants who completed and withdrew from the study, an updated list of funding for and key personnel involved in the project, and copies of all approved project-specific materials. Failure to submit project-specific materials for the annual continuing review will result in the termination of IRB approval for the project.

III. Project-Specific Human Subjects Protection Information

Please answer the following questions about your research project. This information is for the PI and does not need to be submitted to the IRB.

1. Is the project funded or has funding been requested? If yes, specify the funding sponsor.

2. Explain how the collected data will be handled, including storage and who will have access to the information. Include both electronic and hard copy records. Anyone who is involved in analyzing identifiable/coded data must be IRB-approved as key personnel on the Pod Protocol before being granted access to the data.

3. Indicate what will happen to identifiable data at the end of the study. Research-related records should be retained by the supervising faculty researcher for a period of at least three years after the research has been completed (i.e., no further data collection or analysis of identifiable/coded data).

Identifiers permanently removed from the data and destroyed (de-identified)

Identifiable/coded (linked) data are retained

Identifiable data not collected

IV. Project-Specific Amendment Requirements

The research conducted under the Pod Protocol can involve a wide range of behavioral methods that are commonly used in cognitive and developmental psychology, linguistics, and speech and hearing sciences. The research projects covered under the Pod Protocol can investigate a range of different aspects of language, including its production, perception, comprehension, on-line processing, acquisition, and people’s attitudes towards it and thoughts about it. Research has been approved for children as young as 2 years old and adults as old as 105 years old.

Each individual research project must be added to the protocol by amendment. The materials approved under the Pod Protocol umbrella include:

  • signed consent (for adults), assent (for children), and parental permission form templates
  • electronic consent (for adults), assent (for children), and parental permission form templates to be signed on an iPad
  • verbal consent (for adults), assent (for children), and parental permission script templates
  • a signed audio/video taping release
  • an electronic audio/video taping release to be signed on an iPad
  • a recruitment script template

Each amendment must include the following project-specific information:

  • a summary of the project background and rationale (150-200 words)
  • a description of the target participant population
  • an explicit statement of the duration of the study
  • a study-specific recruitment script (based on the approved template)
  • a description of how consent, assent, and/or parental permission will be obtained
  • a description of the experimental procedures to be used, including sample stimulus materials
  • a short (150-200 words) debriefing script highlighting the scientific contribution of the study
  • study-specific consent, assent, and/or parental permission forms/scripts (based on the approved templates)

Supervising Faculty Researcher:

By signing below, you affirm that you have read the responsibilities described in section II above, fully answered the questions about your research project in section III above, and submitted a complete study-specific amendment following the requirements described in section IV above. You also acknowledge that you understand the responsibilities associated with conducting research under the Pod Protocol and the consequences of violating OSU and federal regulations regarding the safe and ethical treatment of human subjects.

Name (print):

Signature:

Date:

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Version Date: 5/23/12