LGBT Campus Center ~ UW-Madison

Research

Current Studies

Coming Out Research Study out of Missouri State University
The purpose of this project is to learn how education of parents and the boundary setting of their gay or lesbian children facilitate a more positive adjustment to the "coming out" process over time. The goal is to study what factors facilitate parents who initially respond negatively to changing their attitudes and responding more positively after time since the initial disclosure has passed. Informed consent page & 15 minute survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=wFd9sG9HAzXV1qqAjd2Mnw_3d_3d

Researcher contact: j.spear@rocketmail.com; supervising professor: Walden.Gemmill@coxhealth.com

End Date: 12/01/09 (IRB)

Research Study for Lesbian, Bisexual, and Questioning Women out of University of Tennessee
Purpose: Historically, researchers have neglected the lives of lesbian and bisexual women, and very little research has looked specifically at attitudes and experiences that sexual minority women have based on both their sexual orientation and gender. This online survey will ask questions about feelings, thoughts, and experiences you may have had, ways you cope with life's challenges, psychosocial well-being, and demographics. Must be 18 to participate; Informed consent page & 40 minute survey: http://d1606.psysurvey.com

Researcher contact: Dawn Szymanski, Ph.D., dszymans@utk.edu.

End Date: 12/09/09 (IRB)

Research Protocol

The LGBT Campus Center at the University of Wisconsin understands the need for academic research on LGBT issues and values the opportunity to assist researchers when those opportunities do not become burdensome to the Center or our constituent identity groups. The Center will entertain requests to make research-participant opportunities available to our constituents under the following conditions:

A - Survey-style requests:

We require an appropriately signed electronic copy (PDF or Word doc) of the researcher's IRB approval emailed to us before we will further consider a request. We will a) keep the IRB approvals on file for archival purposes and b) post them on our research page for public access.
After the IRB approval is received, the request and the IRB form will be uploaded onto the Center's website. The request must include a) a concise title of the research study that clearly narrows and explains the researcher's intent; b) a clearly indicated end date; c) the research protocol description.
On the date of our next normal "weekly events email" (typically Fridays) to our various LGBT listservs, a posting will be included, indicating that new research participation opportunities have been posted to the website. The announcement will include the title of the research study and the information that it is an online survey. It will not include a description of the research as the title should be self-explanatory enough.
The announcement will include a link to the Center's research page so a participant can proceed ahead as desired. The research page will list the research opportunities in chronological order from most recent to oldest and for each study will include the research protocol description received from the researcher as well as the link to the research study, moving participants from the Center website research page to an external site.

B - Focus Group or interview-style requests:

Unless the research activity is part of a project being supported by or co-sponsored by the LGBT Campus Center, the Center declines to expend resources to facilitate the assembling of focus group or interview subjects beyond agreeing to announce focus group/interview dates on our listservs and uploading relevant information to our research page. Specifically, we decline any responsibility for assembling a group or scheduling individual interviews.
We require an appropriately signed electronic copy (PDF or Word doc) of the researcher's IRB approval emailed to us before we will further consider a request. We will a) keep the IRB approvals on file for archival purposes and b) post them on our research page for public access.
After the IRB approval is received, the request and the IRB form will be uploaded onto the research page of the Center's website. The request must include a) a concise title of the research study that clearly narrows and explains the researcher's intent; b) the research protocol description; c) dates and times for focus groups or interview schedules; d) the researcher's contact information.
On the date of our next normal "weekly events email" (typically on Fridays) to our various LGBT listservs, a posting will be included, indicating that a focus group or interview participation opportunity has been posted to the website. The announcement will include the title of the research study and the detail that it is a focus group or interview opportunity. It will not include a description of the research as the title should be self-explanatory enough.
The announcement will include a link to the Center's research page so a participant can proceed with contacting the researcher to schedule participation in a focus group or interview.
If the Center space is not otherwise in use, the Center will be willing to provide the space, at appropriate times (evenings, weekends) for non-Center affiliated focus groups or interviews.