Angie Mitchell

IRB Certification and its Implications

The International Review Board was created to protect the rights of individuals involved
in human research. Through the module the entire emphasis was not only the physical safety of
subjects but also the psychological and social safety. This board was created unfortunately after
it was too late to help the prisoners of the Nazi Concentration Camps and the Tuskegee Syphilis
Study. Through these unfortunate events the Belmont Report was created to help insure that
others will not be mistreated. The three fundamental principles help define the entire purpose of
the IRB.
The first principle is respect for persons. In this they discuss the importance of the autonomy
and how people with decreased autonomy need to be protected. This is the section that talks
about making sure that the participants have been honestly informed about the research they are
going to be a part of. Throughout the study they have to keep the participants informed and
make sure that they are not experiencing any harm or adverse side effects. This is where in the
Research of Children module they talked about the difference between parental consent and
parental notification. This made me think about the surveys the schools do with students, and in
particular the one I just completed with my third-fifth grade students. The only identifiable
marker was their grade. I do not have a way of knowing which response went with what student.
However I didnt get parental consent before this survey either. If I was going to share this
information with others then I would have to inform parents and ask for permission.
The second principle was beneficence. This in short is making sure that the risk to the
subject is minimal or slightly above minimal while making sure that this research is beneficial to
society. It is also here where they have to let the participants understand why they are conducting
this research if it will not benefit the subject. While the benefit might not be made for that
particular subject it would benefit others. This is also where I had the analogy of the possible
side effects of medicine came to mind because researchers are required to let the participants
know of all the possible risk with the project. This is also where the subjects need to understand
that they can quit at any time without any problems. As with my survey they did not have to
answer all the questions to complete the survey.
The third principle was justice. This was where the selection of the subjects comes into
play. They discussed how using prisoners or students would be tricky due to the fact that they
might feel obligated or coerced into it. This is where they also discussed that the sampling of
subject be of varied background. This is also where the discussion of paying people to participate
in the study came into play. I do think that this could cause people to agree even if they didnt
want to due to lifes circumstances. This is where the results could get skewed if the participants
feel that they need to respond in one way or the other to get the benefits. With my survey, I
made a point to let the students understand that I would not be able to tell how they answered the
survey. I also decided not to walk around the room so that they didnt feel like I was watching.
The one part that interested me the most was the part that discussed what was not exempt
from full review of the IRB when it came to students. In the section it stated that surveys had to
be reviewed and approved. I have to be honest that I dont understand this part. As with my
survey you can create complete anonymity for the subjects. In rereading I am assuming that these
are surveys that are done in person due to the fact that observations and interviews are included

in this section. In this sense the student could feel compelled to answer the way the interviewer
wanted. The IRB is in place to protect all people - researchers and subjects.