Question

Which of the following proposed studies would constitute human subjects research as defined under the federal regulations? A researcher uses ships' manifest records of people who entered America between 1875 and 1880 to track the restrictions immigration laws imposed on certain ethnic immigrant groups. A researcher from a school of social work obtains access to students' academic records (including identifiable information) to assess the effect of drug awareness programs on student academic achievement. A researcher conducts a comparison of the comments made in a publicly available blog and the blogger's comments on a similar topic in a weekly magazine. An organization for women academics in engineering asks a federal agency to provide the number of women investigators funded by that agency to include in a report for its membership.

Answer 1

The study involving access to identifiable academic records for assessing the impact of drug awareness programs on achievement constitutes human subjects research and requires Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval.

Step-by-step explanation:

Out of the proposed studies, the one that would constitute human subjects research under federal regulations is the study where a researcher from a school of social work obtains access to students' academic records (including identifiable information) to assess the effect of drug awareness programs on student academic achievement. This type of research involves accessing sensitive, identifiable data and would likely influence the welfare of the participants, making it subject to review and approval by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). According to federal regulations, all research that involves human subjects must prioritize minimizing risks, ensure informed consent, and receive IRB approval to protect the participants' rights and wellbeing.

On the other hand, the use of historical ship manifest records, comparison of publicly available comments, and the request for aggregate data on women investigators do not involve direct interaction with live individuals or their identifiable, private information, hence they may not be classified as human subjects research requiring the same level of IRB scrutiny as the second study. Each of these studies presents different levels of risk and privacy concerns; however, only research involving identifiable, living individuals typically falls under the strict guidelines designed to protect human subjects.

Answer 2

It would seem most likely that the study that would constitute human subjects research would be - a researcher from a school of social work obtains access to students academic records (including identifiable information) to assess the effect of drug awareness programs on student academic achievement. For this study the researcher has specific personal information about the subjects he wants to study, all the subjects are real students, they are all identifiable, they aren't just a number or statistics or anonymous people.