This page focuses on the management required to plan for data collection. Early setup of effective structures with reflective practices and ability to be responsive to team needs will ensure safe, secure, and effective data collection.
Institutional Review Board and Human Subjects Protection Certification
When planning to conduct human subjects research, such as the data collection with the Safety 7, an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval is needed to ensure safety of research subjects. Additionally, since this project is funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Human Subjects Protection Certification is required.
Protocols were developed for each iteration of data collection for focus groups, interviews, and surveys. The Safety 7 team submitted an initial application, two modifications to update survey items and add protocols, and three administrative changes. Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, IRB also requested additional information with the initial submission, bringing the total number of IRB submission for this project to seven!
For each submission, a cover letter, application, and relevant materials were submitted for review. The timeline for our IRB reviews ranges from around three days for an administrative change to one month for the initial review. Your IRB may be different. Since this project was funded by NIJ, which is not a signatory of the revised common rule, our IRB must review all NIJ/Office of Justice Programs funded research studies in accordance with Department of Justice human subjects protections regulation (28 CFR Part 46).
One important distinction for this CEnR project was to ensure that the IRB understood that the youth Safety 7 members were not research subjects for the purpose of the IRB review, but rather research team members. While the Safety 7 youth team members provide their input on topics related to the study for data interpretation purposes, this viewpoint is part of the expertise they bring to the project.
For Safety 7, a second review of materials was required by NIJ’s Human Subjects Protection officer. During the Human Subjects Protection Certification process, the protocols approved by IRB are reviewed to ensure that participants are treated fairly, understand what the study involves, and that extra care is taken to protect those who might be more at risk.
Downloadable resource
Data sharing expectations/security
During the partner phase when contracting, data sharing agreements were established with the subrecipient, SBY. To ensure data security, we used a Secure Data SharePoint (SDS) and secure analytics server, Azure Secure Data (ASD), to store and analyze data collected from participants. We set these SDS and ASD drives up prior to data collection to avoid delays in data cleaning and analysis.
Consent forms
This project was granted waivers of documented consent/assent and parental consent by the IRB and Human Subjects Protection Officer to reduce risks to participants. This means that a consent form was not signed by participants or their parents/guardians. A study information sheet was shared with participants after completing the survey screener and at data collection.
Downloadable resource
Determine recruitment process
Safety 7 recruited participants for this study in partnership with community partners. Youth researchers lived in the communities where we conducted research and brought deep knowledge of their community dynamics and effective ways to recruit participants to the recruitment design.
We used purposeful snowball sampling, which has a demonstrated ability to generate representative samples of hard-to-reach populations, and voluntary response sampling, which supports researchers in gaining access to samples outside of their immediate network. These methods are detailed below.
Recruitment methods
Purposeful snowball sampling:
This study used purposeful snowball sampling, beginning with initial “seeds” identified by youth researchers and community partners, who then recruited others through limited referral cards linked to a screener survey. As recruitment continued across several waves, the sample became more representative while allowing researchers to monitor and adjust for biases related to network size and participant demographics. Recruitment was tracked through numbered cards and supplemented with additional seeds when needed to ensure balanced representation of youth and adult community members.
Voluntary Response Sampling
In addition to purposeful sampling, voluntary response sampling was used to expand our reach when recruitment chains did not develop as expected. This technique allowed participants to self-select into the study by volunteering when asked or responding to posted advertisements. Based on guidance from Safety 7 and community partners, the research team posted recruitment cards in community locations such as local organizations, coffee shops, convenience stores, and parks in Washington, D.C. Following initial recruitment through this method, these volunteers became new seeds for continued participant recruitment using purposeful snowball sampling.
Fidelity measures for data collection
Fidelity Measures are checks for the implementation of the data collection process. We created a checklist to ensure protocols were followed for data collection and secure data storage.
Data collection checklist
The Safety 7 includes seven youth researchers (Zionnah Garnett, Elijah Jones, London Mclean, Jermese Perkins, Ife Tobechi, Ike Tobechi, and Meagan Tutt) who make all key research decisions in partnership with staff from Child Trends and Sasha Bruce Youthwork. The Safety 7 is supported by Quiana Lewis Wallace and Deja Logan from Child Trends, Courtney Gibbs, and Bianca Faccio from Sasha Bruce Youthwork. Principal investigators for the study are Samantha Holquist and Quiana Lewis Wallace (Child Trends) with support from Kelly Murphy. Jennifer Widstrand (Child Trends) served as the Project Director. Additional contributions came from Ja’Chelle Ball, Kenya Downing, Jessica Conway, Olivia Reyes, and Alyssa Scott (Child Trends), and Deborah Shore, Donnell Potts, Ivana Gutierrez, and Jane McGhee (Sasha Bruce Youthwork).
If you have questions about the Centering Youth Experiences to Address Community Violence project, please contact Principal Investigator Quiana Lewis Wallace at qlewiswallace@childtrends.org.
This project was supported by Award No. 15PNIJ-22-GG-01420-RESS, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.