Originally Posted by
milepig
Perfectly reasonable. We need to have everything that is aimed at a human being approved by the Institutional Research Office. Everything.
This is not remotely accurate.
According to the Office for Human Research Protections (part of the US Department of Health and Human Services), only activities which are "a
systemic investigation
designed to develop or contribute to
generalizable knowledge" need to go before Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). A simple classroom assignment like the one here is exempt.
Quotes from Chart 1 on this Page:
https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations.../index.html#c1
Yet, even if it were, asking a simple question asking for examples of poorly-designed websites still doesn't require IRB approval because it doesn't involve "
intervention or interaction with the individuals."
IRB is designed to protect human subjects from physical or emotional harm. Clearly, no one responding to the OP's question is at risk of physical harm. As for emotional harm, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that no one here is going to suffer even the slightest bit of emotional harm just by discussing their least favorite travel websites. If that type of person even exists, she or he really should be visiting a travel website that routinely involves discussions of the inadequacies of other travel websites.