[URBANTH-L]non-academic IRBs

[chesluk at ix.netcom.com]

Dear fellow Urbanthers,

I am writing with a request for information and advice. In my research position at the American Board of Internal Medicine, I am working on several new ethnographic research projects. I would like to submit these projects for IRB approval, but ABIM is not affiliated with any university, and the private IRBs I know of only handle clinical-trial-type studies. Has anyone had experience in getting IRB approval for ethnographic research (or other types of qualitative research) from outside of academia?

Please feel free to contact me directly with your thoughts--I will compile useful advice and send it to the general list!

Ben Chesluk
bchesluk at abim.org
(215) 399-4009