[Air-L] research regs.

[Ed Lamoureux]

On Aug 11, 2007, at 11:54 PM, Marj Kibby wrote:

>
> Doesn't this say clearly that if the blog (publicly available) already
> exists before your study begins, and was not set up for the purpose of
> your study then it is exempt?
>
> Marj

Yes as along as the data set is "finished" before IRB review . . .  
HOWEVER, that's under the condition that the data cannot be tracked  
back to the individual. In that case, one would (at the U of I) need  
informed consent. And I think that's the core of the issue with web- 
netted stuff . . . the key feature (at least to me) is that the  
researcher can code and protect the data, and then array it later in  
publication, in such a way that the material used can't be tracked  
back to a subject who has not given informed consent. Not being able  
to do so problematizes the use of key/core passages as  
exemplars . . .If/when I collect materials from subjects f-2-f (in  
public or private with or without consent, depending on what I'm  
doing) I can keep indentifying materials safe by coding and lock and  
key; when I publish exemplars, there's no web-netted record of the  
material ever having been uttered as the words were written in the  
wind. But with blogs, the materials are present, available, and  
searchable and are often tied to the source with some expectation  
that others can track back and find them. If they can lead back to  
the subject, at least according to the UI protocol, the use of the  
materials may well require informed consent to qualify for the  
exemption from full review and vigilant committee oversight.

Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D.
Associate Professor, Multimedia Program
Bradley University