IRB

since july 2004, lucky me, the IRB regulations have changed and are becoming a lot more strict. damn! so i have to attend one presentation about the thing (which is given only at a time when i teach, of course), and then i have to do some online training and reading and stuff and then pass quizzes at the end of every one of the 10 modules and get an 80% total score to pass. after that, if i pass, my tests results will be scrutinized along with the 150 forms that i have to fill out to get IRB approval when i'm done with my prospectus and want to start with the real resesarch. goodness, what a pain!

i started with the online stuff... it's not that hard but it's a LOT of reading about historical stuff, regulations, names of different laws, problems, human rights, torture, dead people, medications, and stuff that i don't really care about. the quizzes are annoying but you can take them more than once and they'll keep your best results. i'm done with module one. i'll try to finish up a couple of modules this weekend. it took me about 1 hour to finish up 1 module, and i hope the other ones won't be longer, because all i've done so far is the introduction! dammit!

i'm also thinking about the scope of my research. i think i'll give up on the EFL thing because it's just too long and i don't want to spend 200 years on that thing. but i will try to keep the native vs. nonnative, i think it'll make my study a little more exciting, new, and interesting, and it won't make it that much more complicated. i think. because if i only do the nonnative teachers + admistrators, i'll go crazy with boredom.

margie said i should think about methodology, also. i think i'll keep the questionnaires + interviews, because i want large numbers of participants, and it's just easier to compare numbers than to compare what people said in interviews. damn, maybe she doesn't like quantitative research... i think it's so much easier!

i need to write an email to B. to ask him about the committee... i don't know if i should wait until i ask A. or not... but A. really said she didn't really want to do it, so... ok i'll try to write an email to B. this weekend and meet with A. anyway on wednesday.