Troubling the IRB: Institutional Review Boards’ Impact on Art Educators Conducting Social Science Research Involving Human Subjects

Abstract

This article seeks to explore ways in which academic researchers’ investigations and representations have been shaped by the demands of human subjects research protocols and Internal Review Board (IRB) policies. The authors explore prescriptive procedures that dissuade, if not preclude, art education researchers’ investigations, with a focus centered on studies involving (homo)sexual subjects. The article aims to engage colleagues in dialogue about (un)ethical strategies and tactics that are at times employed by academics who attempt to satisfy (un)reasonable IRB requirements. Through a brief historic overview of human subject research practices, international examinations of literature concerning research policies, and an examination of their own study, the authors encourage readers to contemplate the ethical challenges posed by restrictive IRB policies. This essay encourages colleagues to (re)consider how their institution’s office of responsible research practice could be presenting obstacles to the pursuit of quality educational research and recommends actions to dismantle such impediments.