Procedures for Requesting Permission to Study ASCA Membership

Supporting the Association’s commitment to advancing academic scholarship in the field of conduct administration, ASCA permits researchers to conduct both quantitative and qualitative studies of the Association’s membership with proper approval.  While preference is given to researchers who are current members of the Association, membership is not a requirement to submit a “Request to Study ASCA Membership Application.”

Typical Options for Studying ASCA Membership

Quantitative Studies

1. Web-based survey of the entire ASCA membership: If approved, the ASCA Central Office will contact the entire Association membership via e-mail with an invitation crafted by the researcher that contains a link to the actual study instrument hosted on-line by a provider such as SurveyMonkey.  Generally, ASCA will permit no more than three total contacts per study to the entire membership via e-mail and the Association assumes no responsibility for the memberships’ willingness to participate.  The invitation letters for all quantitative studies must designate that participation in the study is both voluntary and anonymous for all respondents.

2. Web-based survey of selected ASCA membership: If approved, the ASCA Central Office can perform a sort function on the Association’s database to designate a specific membership e-mail list based on the researcher’s request.  The ASCA membership database can be sorted to permit a researcher to study only four-year institutions, only two year institutions, only institutions in the United States, or by geographic areas based on ASCA membership circuits (http://www.theasca.org/circuits/).  The database cannot be sorted by control (public/private) or campus enrollment level.  Once the selected membership listserve is designed, the ASCA Central Office will send invitation e-mails directly to specified group. The e-mail will include an invitation crafted by the researcher that contains a link to the actual study instrument hosted on-line by a provider such as SurveyMonkey.  Generally, ASCA will permit no more than three total contacts per study to the entire membership via e-mail and the Association assumes no responsibility for the memberships’ willingness to participate. The invitation letters for all quantitative studies must designate that participation in the study is both voluntary and anonymous for all respondents.

3. Address list: With the approval of the ASCA Research Committee and the ASCA Central Office, researchers can obtain a list of mailing addresses for ASCA membership.  Even for research purposes, researchers are required to pay $750 to obtain a copy of mailing addresses.  Researchers requesting mailing addresses must still complete the “Request to Study ASCA Membership Application” below.

Qualitative Studies

1. Contact from Central Office seeking volunteers:  Researchers seeking permission to conduct qualitative studies of ASCA membership may request no more than three e-mails be sent to the ASCA membership soliciting participation in a qualitative study.  The e-mail invitation must be crafted by the researcher and contain the contact information of the researcher for those members interested in participating.  The researcher may instead request contact information for specific individuals or institutions represented in the Association’s membership database.  Requests can be made based on specific needs or for a random sample of individual members or institutions.  The ASCA Central Office will supply with the contact information requested and, from that point, it is the researcher’s responsibility to make contact and conduct the study.

2. Interviews or focus groups at ASCA Annual Conference: With approval from the ASCA Research Committee, researchers may receive permission to conduct qualitative studies of the Association’s membership attending the Annual Conference.  Researchers are expected to pay all expenses associated with their attendance at the annual conference.  Based on the needs of the researcher, the Central Office can provide details on conference attendees and assist the researcher schedule room(s) for the interviews.

General Procedures

The ASCA Research Committee’s permission to study the Association’s membership is in no way an endorsement of the study or its merits.  The Association takes no responsibility for the utilization of study results by individual researchers nor ownership of said data.  Invitation letters sent to ASCA membership will not contain an indication that the study is from the Research Committee – researchers must sign their own name(s) or, in the interest of confidentiality, state “Anonymous Doctoral Student” or the like.

While exceptions can be made in extraordinary circumstances, the ASCA Research Committee generally approves no more than three quantitative studies of the Association’s membership per academic year (one in the fall, one in the spring, and one in the summer – special provisions can be made for researchers seeking to conduct a study at the Annual Conference).  The reason for limiting the number of quantitative studies is to assist researchers gain adequate survey response rates by not overwhelming the Association’s membership with study requests.  As most researchers wishing to conduct qualitative research are typically seeking a limited number of individuals or institutions to contact personally, there is no limit to the number of qualitative research requests that may be approved each year.

To submit a formal request, researchers should complete the “Request to Study ASCA Membership Application”  and submit as a single PDF document to the chair of the ASCA Research Committee, Dr. Kristen Kawczynski, at kkawczyn@fiu.edu.

Decisions as to whether a request to study ASCA membership will be accepted or denied are made by the chair of the ASCA Research Committee with potential consultation by other members of the Committee.  Determinations as to whether a study application will be accepted are guided by the following characteristics of the study: (a) advancement of ASCA’s mission, (b) contribution to basic knowledge in the field of conduct administration, (c) potential to not compromise the ethics of ASCA members, (d) timeliness of the topic, and (d) appropriate use of research design.  While not determinative, priority will be given to study requests submitted by current ASCA members and/or those researchers who indicated that they plan to submit their study results in manuscript form to the ASCA Journal and present their study results at the ASCA Annual Conference.  Applications are reviewed on a “first come” basis; as only three quantitative studies are generally permitted per academic year, the ASCA Research Committee reserves the right to work with the researcher(s) of accepted study applications to determine an appropriate date for the initiation of the study.  The acceptance of study requests is a subjective process and it is not the role of the ASCA Research Committee to provide input or guidance to the researcher.  While the ASCA Research Committee may consult with the researcher(s) of accepted studies in terms of launch dates and the wording of invitation letters, the Committee will generally not provide a detailed explanations as to why or why not a particular study request was granted or denied.  While the ASCA Research Committee will generally communicate with researchers who have submitted a study request within three weeks, that timeline may be extended as necessary.

Individuals whose study requests are denied by the ASCA Research Committee have three options. First, they may rework the application and resubmit.  Second, they may contact the ASCA Central Office to request a mailing list of ASCA membership that they could use to initiate their own study without direct assistance from the Association.  The ASCA Research Committee and Central Office must issue approval before the Association’s mailing address list will be shared with a researcher and there is a cost of $750 to obtain the list.  Finally, they may submit a grievance request to the ASCA Board of Directors Liaisons to the Research Committee.  Specific information on filing a grievance request will be shared if a study request is denied.