Costelloe-KuehnMemo37

=Memo37: IRB Proposal, with Informed Consent Form= See sample for my research on/with the exposure science community on the templates page.

Am I allowed to use Rensselaer letterhead?

Pasted below, but also: [|BCK IRB ExpEnvMedia Dissertation.doc].

 BRANDON COSTELLOE-KUEHN GRADUATE STUDENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES || || 

April 15, 2009 Kim M. Cardillo // Executive Assistant // Office of the Vice President for Research Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute CII 7015, 110 8th Street Troy, NY 12180 Ms. Cardillo, Attached please find a project description and informed consent form for an ethnographic project titled “Experimental Environmental Media: Leveraging Media Technologies, Practices and Communities in India and the U.S.”

Sincerely,

Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn Graduate Student, Department of Science and Technology Studies


 * PROJECT DESCRIPTION:**

Experimental Environmental Media: Leveraging Media Technologies, Practices and Communities in India and the U.S. =  = =  = =** Summary **=
 * __Title:__**

My dissertation research will document, analyze and compare ways environmental movements in India and the U.S. have been shaped by and make use of new media. I will study //experimental environmental media (EEM)// – people, practices and products that address environmental issues through creative use of new and old media – and attempts to develop innovative forms of communication and collaboration that are essential for capacity building. My central research question is: //How// and //why// do EMOs use new media to develop capacity? More specifically, how do these organizations: a) Produce and circulate knowledge and expertise; b) Enable intra- and inter-group communication and collaboration, often with individuals and groups not immediately recognized as “activist”; and b) Develop and deploy innovative protest tactics This project will explore the perceptions and experiences of actors in EMOs and the structures in which they operate, from local political alliances to neoliberal policies on global trade. In order to elicit the interplay between multiple levels of experience and analysis, this project will employ multi-sited ethnographic research methods (Marcus 1995). Empirical material for this study will be collected through 60 in-depth interviews (approximately two hour sin length) with experimental environmental media practitioners. Field research will be conducted at multiple sites in the United States and India from October 2009 through April 2011. Specifically, the study will be based on: a) participant observation and ethnographic interviews with individuals involved with the JATAN Trust (based in Pipariya and Delhi, India), the Deccan Development Society (Pastapur, India), the Yes Men (based in Troy, NY) and Greenpeace (Washington D.C.); b) fieldwork at relevant conferences and workshops including the “Be the Media” workshop series at the Sanctuary for Independent Media; Beyond Broadcast: Public Service Media from Local to Global (summer 2009), and The Info-Activism Camp (spring 2010); and c) Discourse analysis of the media produced by EMOs. All interviews will be conducted face-to-face, either at the interviewee’s home institution or at meetings or conferences that we will attend. Interviews will be partly or completely transcribed by me. The transcripts will be returned to the interviewee for editing and approval before they are analyzed and direct quotations excerpted. The study is situated at the intersection of media studies, STS and anthropology. This project will draw on and contribute to the scholarly literature on the politics of participation in the “information society” (Castells 2000); on the making and authorization of knowledge and expertise within social movements (Epstein 1996); and the practices and politics of alternative media producers (Ginsburg 2008). Findings will be published as my dissertation for the PhD in Science and Technology Studies and in journals such as //American Ethnologist// and //Social Studies of Science//.
 * __RESPONSE TO IRB QUESTIONS__**

1. Title of Proposal: “Experimental Environmental Media: Leveraging Media Technologies, Practices and Communities in India and the U.S.”

2. Principal Investigator: Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn

3. Address: Sage 5711 (????????)

4. Phone: 518-727-1623

5. N/A (????????????)

6. Department: Science and Technology Studies

7. Objective: This anthropological and ethnographic study will document and analyze emerging practices combining old and new media technologies to build capacity for addressing critical and complex environmental problems, conducting in-depth ethnographic interviews to understand new circuits of knowledge production and collaboration.

8. Methods: Approximately 60 in-depth interviews (approximately two hours in length) with experimental environmental media producers will be conducted for this study. Interview subjects will be recruited through email messages that describe the aims and methods of the project, and include a copy of the project’s informed consent form. Initial contacts will be involved with my primary research site: the Jatan TRUST, in Pipariya India. The contact list will evolve as the project progresses though discussion with interviewees and engagement with the primary and secondary literature on media practices and environmentalism. A preliminary interview guide is included below.

9. Effects on the subjects: There will be minimal physical effects on the subjects because they will be interviewed (????????????????).

10. Measures to minimize risk: All interviews will be voluntary. Interviewees will be given the opportunity to be anonymous, to stop the interview at any point, or to retract the interview or parts of it before publication.

The tape of the interview will be stored on the computers of Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn as password protected (128-bit) encrypted files, and will not be shared with anyone. Once a digital text file, the transcript will be stored on the computers of Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn, again with password protection and encryption. All hard copies of the transcript will be stored in the offices of Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn, which are locked when he is not present. Only Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn will have access to both electronic and hard copies of transcribed interviews. All copies of the interview (recorded and transcribed) will be destroyed at any time on the request of the interviewee.

This is detailed in the attached informed consent form for interviews

11. Likelihood of harm: Minimal.

12. Documentation of risks: None.

13. Benefits to participants: Participants in this study will directly and indirectly benefit from development of a historical record and cultural analysis of the emerging media practices of environmentalists. Results of the study will be presented to my interviewees, and also to decision-makers responsible for funding and using experimental environmental media.

14. Alternative Method not Using Human Subjects: None possible.

15. Qualifications of Researchers: Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn has a MS in Science and Technology Studies and extensive experience conducting ethnographic interviews. Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn conducts interviews in accordance with the code of research ethics established (and recently updated) by the American Anthropological Association.

16. Recruiting of subjects: Interview subjects will be contacted directly, informed of the purposes of the interview, and given the opportunity to refuse the interview.

17. Confidentiality: The participants will be given the opportunity to define the extent to which their names will be associated with any (or all) statement(s) during the interview, and will be given the right to retract any statement at any time prior to publication of research results. Any statements that participants designate as “off the record” will not be attributed to the participant, nor used in a way that would link their statement to said participant. As is codified in the Informed Consent Form, I will use any such comments only as background information, and will not quote them in either an attributed or unattributed fashion in any of my future work. 18. Specimen of Consent Form: Please see attached “Informed Consent Form.” 19. Preliminary Interview Guide is also attached below.
 * __INFORMED CONSENT FORM__**
 * ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF EXPERIMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA**


 * Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn, Department of Science and Technology Studies**
 * Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute / Troy, NY 12180 (518-727-1623) / costeb@rpi.edu**

Contact information for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Review Board: Chair, Institutional Review Board, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, CII 7015, 110 8th Street, Troy, NY 12180

This interview with __________________________________ is being conducted as part of an anthropological study of emergent practices using new and old media technologies to build capacity to address environmental problems. The research will result in public talks, articles, and a dissertation. The interview will be recorded on tape, with the following conditions: 1. Your participation in this interview is voluntary. You may terminate the interview at any time during our conversation. The interview will last approximately two hours. 2. You may ask that the tape be turned off at any time during this interview, and I will turn the tape off. 3. You may designate any comments you make on the tape as “off the record.” You may also designate comments as “off the record” retrospectively, either at a later point in the interview or in the process of approving the transcript. I promise to use such comments only as background information, and will not quote them in either an attributed or unattributed fashion in any of my future work. 4. I will transcribe the tape in part or in full. I will submit any such full or partial transcript to you for your approval. You will be free to edit, clarify, amend, or delete any part of the transcript before returning it to me, having made a copy of the transcript and any changes you make to it for your own files. 5. I will be free to quote from this approved transcript, and only this approved transcript, in my future work. The tape itself will not be made public in any fashion, and can also be destroyed if you so request. The transcript of the interview will not be made public unless you explicitly approve a request to do so. 6. The tape of the interview will be stored on the computers of Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn as password protected (128-bit) encrypted files, and will not be shared with anyone. Once as a digital text file, the transcript will be stored on the computers of Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn, again with password protection and encryption. All hard copies of the transcript will be stored in the offices of either Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn, which are locked when she is not present. Only Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn will have access to both electronic and hard copies of transcribed interviews. All copies of the interview (recorded and transcribed) will be destroyed at any time on the request of the interviewee. 7. You have the right to remain anonymous, and can do so by initializing here: _______. If you do not choose to remain anonymous, in quoting from the approved transcript in my future work, I may attribute remarks directly to you, but will not necessarily do so. 8. If you have any additional conditions that you would like to add, write them here and they will be considered part of this agreement: Additional Conditions: Finally, if for any reason you change your mind about this interview or any of these conditions in the future, I promise to respect any request that you make to me. I will not be able to retract anything that is already in print or in press based on the approved transcript, but I will honor any future request to change any of the terms of this agreement, up to and including complete retraction of the interview and permission to quote from it. INTERVIEWER INTERVIEWEE date: ________________________ address _____________________ _____________________ phone _____________________ email _____________________
 * PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW GUIDE**

Research Questions || Interview Questions || //How// and //why// do experimental environmental media producers use new and old media to: · Produce and circulate knowledge and expertise · Enable intra- and inter-group communication and collaboration, often with individuals and groups not immediately recognized as “activist” · Develop and deploy innovative protest tactics || ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> What are some examples of knowledge that has been important in specific struggles, and how was this knowledge circulated? How do you “map,” figuratively and literally, local knowledges? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> What kinds of groups and experts do you collaborate with and what kinds of translational challenges do you face? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> Outside of your particular organization, how do you draw on and foster networks of various experts? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> How does the form of your organization include and exclude potential collaborators? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> Is “protest” an important component of your work? Are new protest strategies needed? What are the limits of protest? || What are the imaginaries of experimental environmental media producers and how have they developed? || ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;">  What experiences have drawn you into environmental media work and deepened your commitment? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> Do you see your work as primarily oriented towards reform, struggle, or collaboration? || What are the structures and contextual factors that forcefully shape experimental environmental media? Under what social, political, economic and cultural conditions is experimental environmental media likely to be more successful? || ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;">  What are the biggest factors shaping your work? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> How do local, national, and international laws affect your day-to-day practices and your organization? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> Is there an economic component to your work? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> How does the cultural context affect your strategies? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> Are these “new” media technologies sometimes difficult to fit into already existing, entrenched ways of producing and consuming media? ||