Blood, sweat, and tears: Embedding biological samples in social science research on children,

Abstract

In the first decade of the 21st Century, calls for interdisciplinary research are commonplace. Yet, relatively few papers discuss how to complete such research successfully. In this paper, I describe the details of data collection focused on five, six and seven-year old children. The project examined the effect of environmental contaminants on children's educational outcomes. It included a primary caregiver interview, a skill test with the child, and a venous blood draw from the child to test for lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, nicotine, and cotinine. This paper describes key issues and the solutions I adopted. Challenges discussed here include navigating the Institutional Review Board Process, analyzing the blood, obtaining the supplies needed to draw blood, banking blood for future research, hiring a phlebotomist, and recruiting subjects. While not all details will apply directly to other research projects, this paper provides some perspective on the current realities facing social scientists who decide to collect biological samples.

New strategies for biosample collection in population-based social research

“…Social science research increasingly acknowledges the interactions between biological forces and human behavior—a scientific trend making the collection of biological samples increasingly common in population-based social research (Haas and Timmermans, 2008; Hobcraft, 2009; Kall, 2008; National Research Council, 2007). The appeal lies in the knowledge to be gained by linking biomeasures to measures of attitudes and behaviors (National Research Council, 2007).…”