Who does not need to submit their research to the IRB for review?
The following examples do not constitute human subjects research:
•
Class-related activities designed specifically for educational or teaching purposes, where data is
collected from and about human subjects as part of a class exercise or assignment, but are not
intended for use outside of the classroom (i.e., not intended to be generalizable knowledge).
Example: instruction on research methods and techniques. In these instances, the faculty member
is responsible for supervising research undertaken by students in the context of his or her courses
and is expected to maintain professional standards to protect any human participants in
accordance with his or her field. Such course-related activities would not include individual
student research projects, such as undergraduate senior theses, independent or honors research
projects, summer VPAA grants, Masters theses, or the like whose intent includes generalizable
knowledge.
•
Biography or oral history research involving a living individual that is not generalizable beyond that
individual, or whose aim is to provide an understanding of specific historical events and actions.
•
Observational studies of public behavior (e.g., television and internet chat rooms) do not involve
human subjects as defined when there is no intervention or interaction with the subjects and the
behavior is not private.
•
Case histories that are published and/or presented if the case is limited to a description of the
clinical features and/or outcome of a single patient and do not contribute to generalizable
knowledge.
•
Analysis of de-identified, publicly available data. Examples: census data, labor statistics.
•
Interviews where questions focus on things, products, or policies rather than people or their
thoughts regarding themselves. Example: canvassing librarians about inter-library loan policies or
rising journal costs.
•
Data collected for internal departmental, school, or other College administrative purposes.
Examples: teaching evaluations, customer service surveys.
•
Service surveys issued or completed by Saint Michael’s personnel for the intent and purposes of
improving services and programs of the College or for developing new services or programs for
students, employees, or alumni, as long as the privacy of the subjects is protected, the
confidentiality of individual responses are maintained, and survey participation is voluntary.
•
Studies based on data collected for non-research purposes may not constitute human subjects
research if individuals are not identifiable (e.g. data such as service statistics, school attendance
data, crime statistics, or election returns).
•
Research involving cadavers, autopsy material or bio- specimens from now deceased individuals.