Getting Interdisciplinary Teams into the Field: Institutional Review Board Preapproval and Multi‐Institution Authorization Agreements for Rapid Response Disaster Research

Abstract

This article describes an interdisciplinary community resilience research project and presents a case study that supports bringing researchers together before a disaster to develop plans, procedures, and preapproved Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols. In addition, this article explains how researchers from various academic institutions and their federal agency partners can effectively collaborate by creating an IRB Authorization Agreement (IAA). Such preparations can support interdisciplinary rapid response disaster fieldwork that is timely, ethically informed, and scientifically rigorous. This fieldwork preplanning process can also advance interdisciplinary team formation and data collection efforts over the long term.

Recognition and ethical research practices: The role of community specialists

“…Discussions regarding the capability of IRBs to provide necessary oversight for ethical post-disaster research have been present for decades and are ongoing (Kendra and Gregory 2019). However, scholars increasingly agree that standard IRB processes and ethics review committees are currently inadequate to guide and promote the ongoing, reflexive, and community-driven ethics processes that are needed in long-term disaster research settings (Ferreira, Buttell, and Cannon 2018; Mena and Hilhorst 2021; Packenham et al 2017; Peek et al 2021). While disagreement remains about how IRBs should be structured to address disaster contexts, this literature suggests strategies that can address recognition challenges through increased reflexivity and community collaboration.…”

Defining, collecting, and sharing perishable disaster data

“…Structural engineers may begin conducting damage assessments hours, days, or weeks after a tornado or earthquake to understand how buildings performed (Frost and Deaton, 2000). Because of the need to secure institutional approval for the collection of human subjects data, social scientists tend to launch their quick response studies within weeks or months of a disaster (Tierney, 2019; Peek et al, 2021). However, some social scientists also collect data immediately prior to or during a disaster to characterise human behaviour and organisational decision‐making in the face of extreme threats (Henderson, Spinney, and Demuth, 2023).…”

“…It is the compressed time frame and rapidly evolving social and environmental context—not the methods—that make hazards and disaster research distinct and often especially challenging (Pardee et al, 2018; Tierney, 2019). Moreover, the fact that researchers from different disciplines gather diverse data types at widely varying spatial scales and levels of resolution may further complicate data collection efforts prior to, during, or after a disaster (Peek et al, 2021).…”

“…One way to improve the efficiency of ethical review is to use a pre‐established human subjects protocol, such as the Rapid Acquisition of Pre‐ and Post‐Incident Disaster Data study protocol (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2021). Researchers may speed up the time frame for study review and approval by developing a strong relationship with their ethics review committee, ensuring that all researchers have completed the necessary human subjects training, and writing generic disaster protocols that can be swiftly adapted after an event (Packenham et al, 2017; Peek et al, 2021). When researchers from multiple disciplines and government or academic institutions are involved in the rapid collection of perishable data, these pre‐event activities are important for helping collaborators to address research design issues well in advance of a disaster (Peek et al, 2021), while also being prepared to adjust research questions and data collection strategies accordingly (Díaz et al, 2023).…”

“…For instance, the CONVERGE Leadership Corps was established in 2018 to coordinate rapid research across several academic Extreme Events Reconnaissance and Research networks supported by the US National Science Foundation (Peek et al, 2020b). In 2021, a special collection of articles was published in Risk Analysis to highlight different interdisciplinary methods, approaches, research projects, and applications within the hazards field (Peek and Guikema, 2021). Furthermore, several of the long‐standing programmes that fund perishable data collection also prioritise interdisciplinary research, including the EERI's Learning from Earthquakes programme and the Natural Hazards Center's Quick Response Research programme (Oulahen, Vogel, and Gouett‐Hanna, 2020).…”