If you wish to learn more about research in psychology but are not ready to get involved directly, please attend the Department of Psychology Colloquium series. This will be an opportunity to learn more about the current trends and methods in psychology. These meetings will occur about once a month during the academic year and will include presentations by faculty, graduate students, and guest speakers.

Western Carolina University has an Institutional Review Board (IRB) that must review your research before any work begins. For those actively involved in research, you must follow certain guidelines and complete certain forms before actually conducting research. Print out the form, complete page 1, sign the appropriate lines on page 2, prepare a document that answers the nine questions posed on page 2, and include copies of all instruments to be used in the research.

You should consider consulting with Dr. Jim Goodwin, our departmental IRB representative, before submitting your IRB proposal. Two complete copies of the proposal itself are to be submitted directly to Goodwin. He will determine whether it is necessary for the proposal to be examined by the full IRB Committee.

We also recommend you complete at least one of the IRB training modules found on the WCU Research website. These modules provide information about IRB requirements, protection of human participants, animal welfare, and constructing Consent Forms. A sample consent form (Word) is available, thanks to Dr. Herzog.