Important: Pleas Read

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Sara	24 Jan 2003
To those of you who have responded to any of my research related posts, some important information: When I began this project both my advisor and I felt that due to the informal nature of my questions and due to the fact that the data gathered would only be indirectly used in my thesis paper without identifying anyone or likely even quoting any respondents, that it would not be necessary to go through the formal process and paperwork associated with other types of research involving communications with other people. The professor teaching the thesis class felt the same way, but felt that I should talk to the faculty member in charge of the paperwork, just to be on the safe side. Although this professor felt that in my case the research is harmless, it turns out I do have to fill out the paperwork, and I am in the process of doing it right now. Meanwhile, I am putting my questions on hold until the paperwork is approved by ISU's (Illinois State University's) review board. This is a technical detail of University policy, in ANY research that involves other people, whatever the nature of the research, it is necessary to do this for liability reasons, even when there is little or no risk to anyone involved. Live and learn. Anyway, it will take anywhere from one week to a month to get the paperwork through, approved, etc. I'll try to keep people posted on that. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I am sorry to have to put people through the formal stuff now, after already asking so many questions. I hope no one minds. From what I've seen there are a few technical details that apply to who can answer the questions and who can't for research purposes, certain populations are excluded from most types of research due to liability problems. Until I get the paperwork approved, I don't know how that is going to work. I am sorry to have caused something of a mess, doing my best to work it out. I will let people know as soon as possible what is happening and await your feedback. Sara

RedWood	24 Jan 2003
Don't worry about! Things happen.....the Questions were great...a great discussion either way..Thanks!

Alex	24 Jan 2003
the WWW, mostly boards and discussion lists, cannot control the "population". Its a fairly different thing because you can't garantee how many people are behind posts that involve different "identities", not to mention anything about their "true" identities: you can't be sure about gender, age or anything that would become obvious at first inspection with a naked eye. That being said, I think even though you have to comply with Univ. policies, you still have to figure how to incorporate the anonomity factor and uncertaintainty of factors that would be posible to control in other kinds of statistical samples. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by Sara This is a technical detail of University policy, in ANY research that involves other people, whatever the nature of the research, it is necessary to do this for liability reasons, even when there is little or no risk to anyone involved.

The Important: Pleas Read thread was originally posted on 24 Jan 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.