Method Summary

Step 1.This proposal is critiqued by the ESC, my dissertation chair, and modified as required.

Step 2. ESC agrees to the criteria defining SME’s, proposed for this study as: OSH SMEs have in the last five years, singularly or in combination:

a. Served on an advisory committee of an ABET-ASAC accredited program, b. Published peer-reviewed OSH literature

c. Served on a National OSH Committee or research task force

d. Served as a terminal degreed associate or full professor faculty member, holding a current and germane board certification

e. Worked full time as an OSH practitioner at a facility or job site with demonstrated OSH performance excellence, verified by a third party such as OSHA VPP or SHARP, Koop Award, Malcolm Baldrige Award or peer-reviewed published consultant case study f. Hires and manages bachelor of science OSH program graduates at a facility or job site

with demonstrated OSH performance excellence, verified by a third party such as OSHA VPP or SHARP, Koop Award, Malcolm Baldrige Award or peer-reviewed published consultant case study

g. Other suggestions to define OSH SME’s

Step 3. SME’s complete online Wiki survey. In addition to collecting a minimum of demographic data (type of industry, brief bio), SMEs are asked to answer this question:

“As you think about baccalaureate preparation for emerging safety professionals now and in the future, list what you would like to see in a portfolio demonstrating competence?”

The Wiki is hosted at no cost on Google Sites. Access and control of the Wiki is password protected and limited to the designer (Wayne Hartz). The actual survey can only be completed via invitation. The Wiki requires minimal training and is very simple to complete.

Data access is limited to the Wiki designer.

Snowball sampling begins with those on the ESC committee. Corresponding SMEs forward the questionnaire to others who will have an important perspective to add (and meet the SME attributes). Snowball sampling is common in social sciences sampling to reach a population that is connected around a topic on interest of which there is a wide and even conflicting points of view (Cohen & Arieli, 2011).

Step 4. The Wiki data is collected until qualitative data analysis reveals no new themes, indicating the point of diminishing returns.

Step 5. Themed survey results are sent to the ESC committee members, allowing pre-meeting review. ESC participate in a half-day facilitated meeting using a Nominal Group Technique (NGT) process. The method to revise educational standards is based on the consensus building process of NGT has been shown to be superior to conventional meetings or brainstorming processes, fair—providing all contributors equal idea consideration and voice—and result in a prioritized list of distilled ideas (Delbecq et al., 1975). Outcomes of using NGT include; a greater number and quality of ideas, high participant satisfaction, time efficiency, and the achievement of relevant results (Fox & Glaser, 1990).

The NGT process results in a prioritized list of educational standards, allowing comparison to the existing standards.

Step 6. ESC results are provided to the ASSE.

2. Roles

Researcher Roles:

Procedures:

To submit this proposal to ESC Chair and dissertation committee via email or in person.

Incorporate and/or answer questions, ultimately revising the study method and process as require to gain approval.

Develop an internet based Wiki to engage the SMEs.

Confidentiality and permissions

i. Meeting Antioch University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB)

requirements: Explain to participants their risk of participating in the study. Secure ESC written permission to collect and use for research purposes only; all project and

communication data, including but not limited to: personal and written correspondence such as e-mail, field and/or meeting notes, group or individual conversations, Wiki entries, and evaluation forms.

ii. SMEs and those participating via snowball sampling will be provided an explanation of the risk of participating. Wiki completion will indicate agreement to use information provided, following the removal of personal identifiers.

iii. Public documents (including my dissertation) will not reveal names or personal identifiers in association with comments or inferences, made by participants.

iv. Participants agree to their names, affiliations and project roles, such as SMEs or Task Force Member etc., being listed in public documents (such as my dissertation).

Participant instructions

v. Create a one-two minute YouTube video clip to provide Wiki survey

completion directions. Additionally, contact information will be provided to answer specific survey completion questions.

vi. Use commercially available Nvivo software⁴ process to analyze the survey replies.

vii. Track survey reply frequency and theme identification, monitoring for point of diminishing returns to stop the survey process.

viii. Provide the Task Force with a written summary of the Wiki generated themes.

ix. Facilitate ESC in NGT process meeting to agree on and prioritize themed results.

x. With ESC, analyze differences between existing and study findings, considering opportunities for standards revision as appropriate.

Results

xi. Provide the ESC with a written summary of the process, Wiki results, data analysis, and NGT meeting outcomes.

Doctoral Research

4Nvivo software is specifically designed to analyze qualitative data such as written or spoken communications resulting from interviews, surveys, questionnaires, etc. It is produced by QSR (Qualitative research developer) which claims to the largest of its type in the world. The cost of Nvivo 10 is $179.

http://www.qsrinternational.com/products_nvivo.aspx

1. This study will also be used to meet the dissertation requirements of Antioch University Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program.

2. Dr. Jon Wergin, my dissertation chair, is very supportive of this research and methodology, last discussed May 23, 2012

3. Secure full (formal) dissertation committee approval, from Dr.’s Jon Wergin, Chair, and Elizabeth Holloway, Antioch University; and Paul Specht, Millersville University.