Institutional Review Board
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Title of Proposal: Engaging Social Perceptions of Coconut Adinkra Façades
Researcher: Mae-ling Lokko (graduate student)
Department: Architecture
Email: [email protected]
Campus Address: 1521 6th AVENUE, APT 517, TROY NT 12180
Phone: 917 941 1682
Research Adviser (for students):
Attach letter of support from Adviser if applicable.
Is this proposal related to a sponsored project? No
If yes, please indicate:
Existing Award – Fund #________________________
New Proposal
All investigators on this project, including faculty supervisors, must complete the
self-study course on protection of human research subjects. All post-docs,
graduate students, and undergraduates supported on NSF-funded projects are
required to take the appropriate Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course
for their discipline.
For more information, please visit the IRB website for IRB Training Requirements.
Electronic Certification (add additional lines if required):
By entering my name below, I certify that I have completed the course:
Name
Mae-ling Lokko
Date Completed
02/18/14
1 Objective:
The objective of this study is to gather feedback from potential users (and design
stakeholders?) on the significance and function of cultural pattern identity within building
façades.
Motivation:
This study forms a critical component of my dissertation work on the development of
appropriate technologies within developing contexts, which propose local knowledge
economies as activators for reactive models of design. In response to the architectural
context of our test-bed site within Ghana, the persistence and current widespread use of
cultural symbolic systems in the form of adinkra facades provides a unique opportunity
to investigate the relationship between social and environmental values within building
technology. The ultimate goal of this study will be used to inform the façade design of a
physical prototype house made from local post-agricultural coconut building materials.
Methods:
The study will take place over the last half of the Spring 2014 and the Summer 2014
semester. It will be composed of two components:
(i) A digitally-based online survey conducted with stakeholders within adinkra
design community over the Spring 2014 semester from RPI.
(ii) A user-interactive exhibition and survey and semi-structured interview
using projections of full-scale adinkra façade visualizations. This will be done
in Accra, Ghana.
Each participant will be made aware of the motivations and goals of the research
and will be given the choice to participate before and during any part of the study.
Proper consent will be obtained prior to conducting any method of data collection.
Participants will be made aware that their interactions in the exhibition space will be
video recorded prior to entry. No audio data from the exhibition will be recorded to
ensure privacy of conversations during exhibition.
Data gained from the survey, exhibition and interviews will be used for the
purposes of analysis and informing design of the system. An online survey service
(Survey Monkey) will be used for obtaining gathering data and will assign each
applicant an identification number instead of by name. The sheet that contains
identification of persons according to applicant number will be kept in a locked file
cabinet in the PI's office; only accessible to the PI and advisor. All computer records will
be protected by a password. Identities of participants will be made anonymous in any
publication or presentation of this study for a period of 5 years after the date of
completion. After that time, both physical and digital records will be destroyed.
2 Effects on Subjects: Minimal
Measures to Minimize Risk: No audio recording of user interactions during interactive
exhibition.
Likelihood of Harm: Minimal
Documentation of Risks: None.
Benefits to Participants:
There is no direct benefit for participants in this study. However, occasionally
participants such as adinkra designers appreciate the opportunity to share their design
framework and personal views on the significance of cultural knowledge systems within
their work. This study will contribute indirectly to knowledge about architectural identity
development within larger global contexts.
Alternate Method Not Using Human Subjects: This subject cannot be complete
without the interview and observation of human subjects.
Qualifications of Researcher: Mae-ling Lokko, the principal investigator, is a 2nd year
phD student of architecture conducting research on building integrated agricultural byproduct systems. In the past, she has conducted two IRB-approved projects during her
research at Tufts University. The first study involved interviews, both survey and
narrative-based, with youth between the ages of 16-23. The second study involved firsthand research in Accra, with public figures and officials around a high-profile
architectural project.
Recruiting of Subjects:
Participants for the online survey will be recruited through three design networks within
Accra –the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Ghana,
the Nubuke Art Foundation email list and the ArchiAfrika organization list-serve. The
interactive projection of adinkra visualization will be a public exhibition event where
participants will be informed of the nature of research prior to entry.
Confidentiality:
There will be strict confidentiality of all records maintained. All completed surveys,
identified only by ID numbers will be kept in the PI's office and accessible only to the
PI.). Transcribed data from semi-structured interviews identified only by ID numbers will
be stored on the PI's computer. Access to these computer records will be protected by
passwords. After two years, the identifiers will be destroyed.
3 Attach a copy of any questionnaires you plan to use.
(this is still ongoing via an online survey platform: current choice is Survey Monkey)
There will be four pages within to the online survey focusing on the following areas:
A. ESTABLISHING INITIAL PERCEPTIONS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AS
BUILDING MATERIALS
B. INVESTIGATING POTENTIAL PHENOMELOGICAL ASPECTS OF COCONUT
MATERIALS.
C. ESTABLISHING USER PREFERENCES FOR PATTERNED FACADES (scale,
material, density, color, porosity, privacy, etc)
D. DETERMINING SEMIOTIC ASPECTS OF ADINKRA
COMMINICATING CULTURAL AND AESTHETIC VALUES.
FACADES
FOR
4 Consent Form (Online Survey)
The objective of this study is to gather feedback from designers (18 years or older) on
the significance and function of cultural pattern identity within building façades. The
results of this study are expected to contribute to integrative design decision
frameworks for coconut-material based building facades. Data gathered through your
response will generate visualization recommendations based on human perception,
aesthetic preference and cultural relevance. These strategies will mediate site and
building program specific environmental and social performance criteria of the building
envelope. Through this, opportunities for engaging local knowledge systems in the
design of 21st century Ghanaian urban environments are investigated. Please review
the following information before proceeding. By typing in your name at the bottom:
• You are being asked to participate in a research study that is focused on investigating
participants’ visual and aesthetic preference of adinkra façade visualisations.
• You are being asked to participate in this study because we are interested in the
opinions of designers on adinkra pattern ownership and evolution through various
creative media.
• You understand that this study poses no major risks to you as a participant. There is
minimal risk of visual discomfort due to the density of the adinkra pattern relative to
screen size. In order to eliminate any possible visual discomfort, you will be warned
prior to exposure to dense visualizations.
• You understand that you will not be compensated for your participation in this
research, and that there is no direct benefit to you as a participant.
Contact Persons
If you have any questions about this study you may call Mae-ling Lokko or Professor Anna Dyson at
[email protected] or +1 (917) 941 1682.. If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject
you may call Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Office of Research at (518) 276-4873.
*1. By entering your name in the below, you confirm that you have read the
background information and terms of the survey and agree to participate
in the following survey.
5 Consent Form (Interactive Exhibition and Interviews)
Social, Behavioral & Educational Research IRB
INFORMED CONSENT FORM FOR MINORS
Dear Parent/ Guardian,
You are being recruited to grant permission for you son/daughter/legal dependent to
take part in the study entitled “Engaging Social Perceptions of Coconut Adinkra
Façades”. Your participation is completely voluntary meaning you have the option of
granting your child permission to take part in the study or not.
Before allow your child to enter the exhibition space, it is important that you make an
informed decision about taking part in this study:
The objective of this study is to gather feedback from potential users on the significance
and function of cultural pattern identity within building façades. The results of this study
are expected to contribute to integrative design decision frameworks for coconutmaterial based building facades. Data gathered through user responses will generate
visualization recommendations based on human perception, aesthetic preference and
cultural relevance. These strategies will mediate site and building program specific
environmental and social performance criteria of the building envelope. Through this,
opportunities for engaging local knowledge systems in the design of 21st century
Ghanaian urban environments are investigated. Please review the following information
before proceeding. By signing the form on the next page you confirm that:
• You are being asked to participate in a research study that is focused on investigating
participants’ visual and aesthetic preference of adinkra façade visualizations.
• You are being asked to participate in this study because we are interested in the
opinions of designers on adinkra pattern ownership and evolution through various
creative media.
• You understand that this study poses no major risks to you as a participant. There is
minimal risk of visual discomfort due to the density of the adinkra pattern relative to
screen size. In order to eliminate any possible visual discomfort, you will be warned
prior to exposure to dense visualizations.
• You understand that you will not be compensated for your participation in this
research, and that there is no direct benefit to you as a participant.
If you have any questions about this study you may call Mae-ling Lokko at [email protected] or +1 (917)
941 1682. If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject you may call Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute’s Office of Research at (518) 276-4873.
6 When you sign this document, you are agreeing to have your child take part in
this research study. If you have any questions or there is something you do not
understand, please ask. You will receive a copy of this consent document.
Signature of parent/legal guardian
Date
Print Name of parent/ legal guardian
Signature of Participant
Date
Print Name of Participant
Signature of Person Obtaining Consent
Date
Print Name of Person Obtaining Consent
Position
I agree to have my child be audiotaped during the interview component of this
study
Signature of Parent/ legal guardian
Date
7 Consent Form (Interactive Exhibition and Interviews)
Social, Behavioral & Educational Research IRB
INFORMED CONSENT FORM
Dear Participant,
You are being recruited to take part in the study entitled “Engaging Social Perceptions
of Coconut Adinkra Façades”. Your participation is completely voluntary meaning you
have the option of granting your child permission to take part in the study or not.
Before entry into the exhibition space, it is important that you make an informed
decision about taking part in this study:
The objective of this study is to gather feedback from potential users on the significance
and function of cultural pattern identity within building façades. The results of this study
are expected to contribute to integrative design decision frameworks for coconutmaterial based building facades. Data gathered through user responses will generate
visualization recommendations based on human perception, aesthetic preference and
cultural relevance. These strategies will mediate site and building program specific
environmental and social performance criteria of the building envelope. Through this,
opportunities for engaging local knowledge systems in the design of 21st century
Ghanaian urban environments are investigated. Please review the following information
before proceeding. By signing the form on the next page you confirm that:
• You are being asked to participate in a research study that is focused on investigating
participants’ visual and aesthetic preference of adinkra façade visualizations.
• You are being asked to participate in this study because we are interested in the
opinions of designers on adinkra pattern ownership and evolution through various
creative media.
• You understand that this study poses no major risks to you as a participant. There is
minimal risk of visual discomfort due to the density of the adinkra pattern relative to
screen size. In order to eliminate any possible visual discomfort, you will be warned
prior to exposure to dense visualizations.
• You understand that you will not be compensated for your participation in this
research, and that there is no direct benefit to you as a participant.
If you have any questions about this study you may call Mae-ling Lokko at [email protected] or +1 (917)
941 1682. If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject you may call Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute’s Office of Research at (518) 276-4873.
8 When you sign this document, you are agreeing to take part in this research
study. If you have any questions or there is something you do not understand,
please ask. You will receive a copy of this consent document.
Signature of Participant
Date
Print Name of Participant
Signature of Person Obtaining Consent
Date
Print Name of Person Obtaining Consent
Position
I agree to be audiotaped during the interview component of this study
Signature of Participant
Date
9