Preparing Proposals for ARB Submission

1
Preparing Proposals for ARB Submission

• Tips for Mentors by
• Ronald Black, Ed.D. UOP FTRF
• Kelley Conrad, Ph.D. UOP FTRF
• Aminah Brelvi, MBA Sr Dissertation Process
  Liason

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ARB Review

• The first and most important component of the
  submission is the Learners Proposal

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Pre-submission Process - I

• Begins in DOC722
• Continues through Year 2
• Ideally Learner should have a draft of proposal
  when entering DOC732R Third Year Residency
• In DOC732R Learner works in Residency to complete
  proposal which can be submitted after passing
  DOC732R (or Chap 4 5 If ready)
• Learner and Mentor work together to polish final
  draft of proposal
• When learner is ready, proposal submitted to
  Mentor for approval

4
Learner uses ARC

• Learners should use the current ARC to guide
  their preparation
• All items on the ARC should be checked and
  included
• The ARB reviewers use the checklist and may
  reject for omissions

5
Mentor Review is Critical

• Many proposals are returned by ARB because of
  errors which could be avoided by careful review
  by the mentor and committee
• Please take this task seriously since reviews of
  carefully prepared proposals go faster than
  reviews of proposals that require lots of feedback

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Pre-submission Process - II

• After Mentor approval, Learner submits proposal
  to Committee
• Committee responds with feedback
• Learner prepares changes chart
• Learner tracks changes and responds to committee
  members while informing Mentor

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Pre-submission Process - III

• After all committee feedback has been addressed
  Learner prepares final draft for mentor.

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Learner PreparationsFinal Draft of Proposal

• Learner assembles all changes into final draft of
  proposal
• Learner systematically reviews the entire
  proposal using ARC
• Each section should be carefully checked to
  ensure all components on checklist have been
  included

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Using the ARC

• Learner should be coached to use the ARC as a
  guide for carefully reviewing entire proposal
• Common Errors
• Sections on the ARC missing in the proposal
• Section describing References not completed in
  APA format
• IRB form also requires careful preparation
• Bad grammar, typos, other errors are common
  problems
• All institutional permission forms need to be
  attached
• Learner systematically reviews the entire
  proposal using ARC
• Each section should be carefully checked to
  ensure all components on checklist have been
  included

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Proofing Editing Spelling

• Learner spell checks entire proposal
• Activate Spelling and grammar checks for MSWord
• Set MSWords grammar checker Advanced features to
  include checks for
• Serial Commas
• Double Spaces between sentences
• Punctuation inside quotation marks

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Proofing Editing Grammar

• Learner grammar checks entire proposal
• Learner carefully checks all grammar
• Programs which can help include
• UOP WritePoint, from UOP CWE
• StyleWriter, from www.stylewriter.com
• WhiteSmoke, from www.whitesmoke.com
• Grammar Expert Plus, from http//199.236.117.9/ap
  p/gramxp/index.html
• Hire a Scholarly (dissertation) Grammar Editor
• Grammar should be excellent

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Proofing Editing APA

• Learner checks proposal for APA Style
• Learner carefully checks entire proposal
• Programs which can help include
• APA Style template for MSWord at
  www.apastyle.info/template
• APA PERRLA program for composing APA formatted
  papers atwww.perrla.com
• Bold-Ed PaperMaker program for composing APA
  formatted papers at www.bold-ed.com  
• APA Style Helper 5.1 program for composing APA
  formatted papers at www.apa.org/software
• APA Reference Formatter at UOP CWE
• There should be no APA format errors

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Learner Reads Proposal Aloud

• After all editing has been completed
• Learner completes a final check
• Reading the Proposal aloud to check for grammar
  and flow
• Final version should be publication quality and
  as close to perfect as learner, Mentor, and
  committee can make it

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Learner Preparations III

• Learner submits proposal to Mentor for approval
  to send to committee
• Committee reviews final version of proposal prior
  to submission
• After approval by Mentor and Committee, Learner
  prepares proposal and supporting documents

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Documents Needed

• Current versions of all forms are available on
  the SAS Doctoral Web Site
• Main items to include in submission
• Research Study Proposal Cover Sheet
• Institutional Review Board Application
• Final Perfect copy of proposal
• Completed Academic Review Checklist
• All Institutional Consent Forms and Permissions
  to use Premises Forms

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Academic Review Board

• Review focused on points in ARC
• Four Outcomes
• Approved
• Submitted to IRB
• Approved with Changes Needed
• Submitted to IRB but Revisions needed
• Not Approved Revision Needed
• Not Submitted to IRB Returned for Revision
• Review Halted Revision Needed
• Not Completely read - Not Submitted to IRB
  Returned for revision

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ARB Review Results

• Delivered to Mentor
• Mentor reviews with Learner
• If returned, changes chart needs to be prepared,
  changes made, and changes tracked
• Repeat preparatory steps after changes are made
  to secure Mentor and Committee approval for
  resubmission

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Tips for ARB Preparation

• Emphasize with Learner the importance of
  publication quality work
• The chapters 1, 2, 3 in the proposal will see
  only minor revision in the final dissertation
• The proposal should represent the Learners very
  best work

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TIPS Continued

• Purpose statements and Problem statements often
  cause difficulties
• If not clear this affects the entire proposal
• Problem statements need to clearly state a
  researchable problem
• Some reviews are halted at the problem statement

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Tips for Qualitative Studies

• Research Questions need to be clear, unambiguous,
  and not closed ended
• Learner should not mistakenly use the questions
  planned for the qualitative interview as the
  Research Question
• Qualitative tradition should be clearly described
  and the explanation of the Learners choice of
  the method should be clear and substantive

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Tips for Quantitative Studies

• A general research question should position the
  hypotheses
• Learner may use null and alternative hypotheses
  or Alternative hypotheses alone.
• If Null hypotheses are stated, they should be in
  formal form and followed by the appropriate
  Alternative Hypotheses
• Hypotheses may be numbered
• The hypotheses should be supported by narrative

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Tips for Method

• Selection and description of Method is the most
  critical component
• Design should be carefully described
• Target population and sample should be explicitly
  and clearly described
• Analysis procedure should be appropriate for
  purpose, problem, method
• Study should be replicable from description

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Literature Review

• Review should be a well-written, integrated
  presentation of germinal and current literature
• Grammar should be above average and free of
  obvious errors
• Opinions and conclusions should be substantiated
  with references to the literature
• Review should conclude with an integrating
  summary

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Mechanics

• Mechanics should be as close to flawless as
  Learner can make them
• Grammar
• Spelling
• APA
• UOP SAS
• Appearance
• Publication Quality

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IRB Review

• After ARB Approval the Learners proposal is
  submitted to the IRB.

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IRB Process

• The UOP Institutional Review Board reviews the
  Learners proposal package for compliance with
  the Office for Human Research Protection (OHRP)
  Requirements.
• This is an important review of compliance to
  governmental and legal requirements Complete it
  carefully

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Purpose of IRB

• To ensure no harm will occur to study subjects
  and that protected classes will be protected
• If no protected classes are involved, the
  research is exempt
• If protected classes are involved, the research
  is not-exempt Very few non-exempt studies are
  approved. Avoid designs that use protected
  subjects.

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Exempt Research

• After review by two IRB reviewers if all
  documentation is submitted and correct study
  may proceed
• Tricky Informed consent agreement including the
  CITI paragraph must be included in affirmative
  consent forms or on web pages
• Signatures on the application must be
  electronic indicated by /s/ in front of typed
  legal name

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Non-Exempt Research

• Any research using protected groups as the focus
  of the research
• Minors (18 and under)
• Prisoners
• Mentally disabled
• Pregnant Women
• Requires approval of full UOP IRB Meets once a
  month, first Wednesday of the Month

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IRB Approval

• After approval the IRB Committee forwards results
  to Mentor
• Mentor informs Learner and Committee
• Payment approved for Committee Members
• Certificate issued for study sent to mentor
• Learner is advanced to Doctoral Candidate Status
  (ABD All But Dissertation)

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After ARB/IRB Approval

• Learner is considered a doctoral candidate
• Learner is approved to gather data and complete
  the study
• If approved with changes, the final dissertation
  will be checked against the ARB approval to
  ensure the changes have been made