[Air-L] part one of two

[Ed Lamoureux]

sorry, but I have to break this into two parts as the 10k limit  
caught me again

please allow me to stop arguing in the abstract for a moment [I sort  
of gravitate toward hypotheticals]

If you have a chance, have a look a the U of Illinois, IRB protection  
of human subjects stuff at
http://www.irb.uiuc.edu/
http://www.irb.uiuc.edu/?q=irb-admin/introduction.html

Especially helpful is the download of the "NEW" IRB Application for  
Exemption. This is the document that controls the process, for the U.  
of I., of telling researchers that they can go ahead and do what they  
plan to do cause it fits under the Federal categories for exemption  
from full review. Even getting the research approved via this form  
does not release the researcher from best practices; but it does  
recognize that certain kinds of work (descriptive, observational,  
etc.) are in a category that pose little risk to subjects so may be  
done without full board review and constant, repetitive, oversight.

before I highlight a couple parts, please note that I'm not at the U  
of I  . . . I'm only familiar with their stuff cause I treat them as  
a model due to their longstanding involvement with ethnography. See  
their long term ethnography of the university project:
http://www.eotu.uiuc.edu/what/index.htm

I think this is an IRB that pretty clearly understands, via  
experience, ethnographic methods. These guys don't make law for  
everyone. But I think they are a good model and they are breaking  
ground in the attempted colocation of human subject protection stuff  
across disciplines. Some highlights in the application for exemption:

*NEW* IRB Application for Exemption:  http://www.irb.uiuc.edu/files/ 
exemptform.dot
(this will open as a fillable form in WORD)

Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D.
Associate Professor, Multimedia Program
and Department of Communication
Co-Director, New Media Center
1501 W. Bradley
Bradley University
Peoria IL  61625
309-677-2378
<http://slane.bradley.edu/com/faculty/lamoureux/website2/index.html>
<http://gcc.bradley.edu/mm/>
AIM/IM & skype: dredleelam
Second Life: Professor Beliveau