Summary: What to Do

Informed Consent

Frequently Asked Questions

Training and Certification

Is My Project Exempt?

Checklist

Submit Online

Meeting Dates

Contact the IRB

Interview Procedures and Oral Histories

Oral Histories:

Most oral histories have recently been excluded from oversight by Institutional Review Boards.  However, some interview and oral history research must still be reviewed by the IRB.  Please read the information below about exemption category 45 CFR 46.101[b] (obtained from the ASU IRB website) to determine if your oral history study qualifies for an "exempt" review.  Studies that fall under the "exempt" category MUST be submitted for review by the IRB.  If your oral history does qualifies for an exempt review, please consider the following when submitting your proposal to the IRB:

Oral History Evaluation Guidelines

Program/Project Guidelines

Purposes and Objectives

a. Are the purposes clearly set forth?  How realistic are they?

b. What factors demonstrate a significant need for the project?

c. What is the research design?  How clear and realistic is it?

d. Are the terms, conditions, and objectives of funding clearly made known to judge 

the potential effect of such funding on the scholarly integrity of the project?  Is the allocation of funds adequate to allow the project goals to be accomplished?

e. How do institutional relationships affect the purposes and objectives?

More information on ethics and oral histories can be found at Dickinson College's page for the Principles and Standards of the Oral History Association.

Interviews:

Some interviews qualify for an "exempt" review by the IRB, while other interviews do not require review.  Please see the information below to determine if your interview qualifies for an "exempt" review.  Studies that fall under the "exempt" category MUST be submitted for review by the IRB.

Please note: whenever feasible, researchers should use consent forms when conducting interviews.  For an example of an interview consent form, please see this example interview consent form.

"Exempt" review studies include:

Research activities in which the only involvement of human subjects will be in one or more of the following categories:

1. Research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings, involving normal educational practices, such as:

   1. research on regular and special educational instructional strategies, or

   2. research on the effectiveness of or the comparison among instructional techniques, curricula, or classroom management methods
      

2. Research involving the use of educational tests (cognitive, diagnostic, aptitude, achievement), survey procedures, interview procedures, or observation of public behavior unless:

   1. Information obtained is recorded in such a manner that human subjects can be identified, directly or through identifiers linked to the subjects; and

   2. any disclosure of the human subjects' responses outside the research could reasonably place the subjects at risk of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the subjects' financial standing, employability, or reputation.
      

3. Research involving the use of educational tests (cognitive, diagnostic, aptitude, achievement), survey procedures, interview procedures, or observation of public behavior, if:

   1. The human subjects are elected or appointed public officials or candidates for public office: or

   2. federal statue(s) require(s) without exception that the confidentiality of the personally identifiable information will be maintained throughout the research and thereafter.
      

4. Research involving the collection or study of existing data documents, records, pathological specimens, or diagnostic specimens, if these sources are publicly available or if the information is recorded by the investigator in such a manner that subjects cannot be identified, directly or through identifiers linked to the subjects.
   

5. Research and demonstration projects which are conducted by or subject to the approval of department or agency heads, and which are designed to study, evaluate or otherwise examine:

1. Public benefit or service programs;

2. procedures for obtaining benefits or services under those programs;

3. possible changes in or alternatives to those programs or procedures; or

4. possible changes in methods or levels of payment for benefits or services under those programs.
   
6. Taste and food quality evaluation and consumer acceptance studies:
   1. if wholesome foods without additives are consumed or
   2. if a food is consumed that contains a food ingredient at or below the level and for a use found to be safe, or agricultural chemical or environmental contaminant at or below the level found to be safe, by the Food and Drug Administration or approved by the Environmental Protection Agency or the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Ethnographic Interviewing

When you are conducting ethnographic interviewing that meets the above qualifications for review, please consider the following in preparing your proposal:

Risk: Please be explicit and complete when describing the potential risks to your participants.  The IRB does not expect research to be risk free, but it has an obligation to evaluate the risks and benefits of each proposal, and it can be difficult for the IRB to assess risks in other cultures.

Degree to which participants are fully informed: The standard written informed consent agreement covers the most important points about which participants must be informed.  If you are going to use an oral consent procedure, or if you choose to make up a written form that is more appropriate for your research population, you should still be sure to inform participants of these major points: what they will be asked to do, what risks they might be exposed to, and how you will handle the interview in terms of confidentiality, and most importantly, that participation is fully voluntary and that they can end the interview and withdraw from the study at any time without penalty.

Documentation of consent: The standard written informed consent agreement provides you with documentation that participants gave informed consent, and it partially protects you and Bard College from later charges of misconduct.  The IRB recommends that written documentation of informed consent be obtained whenever it is appropriate and possible to do so.  However, if in your judgment obtaining written consent is inappropriate or risky in itself, please explain why, and explain what you will do to document consent.  One alternative is to tape record the interview, or at least the informed consent procedures.

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