Research Personnel: N/A Essays Examples

IRB Application

IRB Application

Collaborators in Outside Institutions:
1.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

1 Choke Cherry Road

Rockville, MD 20857

Tel: 800-487-4889
2.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) conducts the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) in collaboration with the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. The survey is conducted at the national level and collects information about alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use in the United States residents at the age of 12 or older. The dataset is available via the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA) and will be used to conduct this study.

Purpose of the Study:

The purpose of this study is to identify demographic risk factors associated with excessive alcohol and marijuana use. The severity of alcohol consumption and marijuana use among students will be compared based on the following independent variables: (1) ethnicity, (2) gender, (3) state, (4) full-time student status, and (5) part-time student status.
The first research question is, “How are alcohol and marijuana use different among students based on their state of residence?” State laws and various environmental characteristics, such as alcohol outlet density, are predictors of binge drinking, but environmental characteristics were not associated with differences in marijuana consumption. It is hypothesized that both alcohol and marijuana consumption will be higher in states with high college student and general population density than in states with lower population density.
The second research question is, “What is the relationship between alcohol and marijuana use and the college student’s ethnicity, gender, and full-time or part-time status?” It is expected that male students will more likely engage in alcohol use, binge drinking, and frequent marijuana use than female students because of their differences in attitudes towards drinking and using marijuana. Although White college students showed higher levels of alcohol and marijuana consumption compared to other ethnic groups, it is hypothesized that there will be no significant difference between ethnic groups in alcohol or marijuana consumption because the survey was anonymous and conducted on a national level, so college- and state-level differences should not affect the results.
Finally, exploring alcohol and marijuana use between part-time and full-time students is important because it has been neglected in previous studies. It is hypothesized that full-time students are more to use alcohol and marijuana than part-time students because full-time exposure to the college environment makes them more likely to adopt group norms and values regarding alcohol and drug use.

Funding Source: N/A

Inclusion/exclusion: N/A
Archival/Existing Data:
1. The NSDUH 2013 targets various demographics and age groups, but the sample consists of 24,500 full-time college students and 2,441 part-time students.
2. The dataset is named “National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2013.”
3. The subjects cannot be identified because the survey did not collect their personally identifiable information, such as names or institutions.
4. The data is publically available. No specific permission is required to use it.

Vulnerable and Special Populations: N/A

Recruitment/Screening:
1. No
2. The participants will not be recruited because this study will use existing data.
3. N/A

Description of the Study

1. N/A
2. N/A

Risks of the Research:

Because of the retrospective nature of the study, there are no risks to report.
Benefits of Participation:
N/A

Compensation for Participation:

N/A

Confidentiality

1. Check “Other” – the existing data used did not collect any of the information listed.
2. Personally identifiable information will not be collected.
3. Publically available data without personally identifiable information does not warrant specific measures for protection during storage and disposal.