Survey rules regarding human subjects

Why this document is on the Public Affairs web site

If you've created a web site and are ready for the user-testing phase, or if you are conducting a survey, you may have heard that the campus must follow federal regulations regarding "human subjects research."

The University of Illinois conducts a great deal of research. When that research involves testing and/or surveys with human beings, the review board wants to make sure researchers know the rules and are adhering to them.

What surveys are exempt from federal regulations?

Before you conduct a survey using the Public Affairs survey tool, please read the following information explaining what is and is not exempt from federal regulations.

Whenever you gather information from your constituents or the general public, you need to give some thought to why you are collecting the information and how you plan to use it.

If the answers to the following two questions are “no,” you are exempt from the regulation. If either answer is “yes,” contact Sharon Stoerger, Research Specialist at the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 333-3428.

Am I conducting research on the people I am surveying?

The basic distinction between exempt and non-exempt surveys is whether the purpose of the survey is research or quality assurance. If your goal is, for example, to gauge how respondents feel about your unit, so that you can improve your image among them, your survey is exempt. If, however, you plan to gather data from your respondents to for scholarly reasons, you must complete the IRB-1 form.

For example, if you are interested in the way students use the Internet, but that interest has nothing to do with any efforts to better reach our students through the Internet, your survey will likely fall under the federal human subjects regulations.

If you have conducted a quality-assurance survey, and you decide to present your results at a conference to share your findings, your survey is still exempt. As long as the sole purpose of the survey is to improve the way you serve your current and potential audiences, you are not required to use the IRB process.

The federal definition of "research," which is outlined in 45 CFR 46.102(d), is as follows:

Research means a systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. Activities which meet this definition constitute research for purposes of this policy, whether or not they are conducted or supported under a program which is considered research for other purposes. For example, some demonstration and service programs may include research activities.

Will I be able to connect individual people with their responses?

"Human subject" means a living individual about whom an investigator conducting research obtains

• data through intervention or interaction with the individual, or
• identifiable private information.

The private information must be individually identifiable (i.e., the identity of the subject is or may readily be ascertained by the investigator or associated with the information) in order for obtaining the information to constitute research involving human subjects. One example where this applies is course evaluations. The instructor is receiving information from the students that may be used to improve the course, but the collected data cannot be linked to specific students so it is not considered human subjects research.