Does Institutional Research require IRB review?
Institutional research is a study that is designed to obtain information to assist in the administration of the University. Institutional research provides information for administrative planning, policy making, decision making, and includes examinations of institutional effectiveness. Institutional research is specifically defined as those data collection and interpretation efforts that: (a) will not be shared outside of the University environment; (b)will not be disseminated to other professionals or the public in any forum; (c) presents no more than “minimal risk” (as defined by Federal regulation); (d) is not intended to produce “generalizable knowledge”; and, (e) contains no identifiers in the data that might compromise an individual’s confidentiality. Institutional efforts meeting this definition are not subject to the IRB policy and procedures.
