Monday, June 7, 2010

It Can Happen to Anyone

On Saturday, my Journal of Policy History article, "How Talking Became Human Subjects Research: The Federal Regulation of the Social Sciences, 1965–1991," was honored with that journal's Ellis Hawley Prize. In presenting the prize, Professor Hawley--one of the leaders of my profession--mentioned that he himself used to ask his students to interview someone who had lived through the Great Depression. On being told that he would have to submit to IRB review, he abandoned the assignment. If IRBs can deter Ellis Hawley from learning more about the 1930s, we have a problem.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You may have seen the following comment on the Washington Post online, responding to an op ed piece about Bush and torture:

"The notion that "human experimentation", rather than torture, abduction, or organ failure-like pain would be the thing to get Bush is not surprising. Even in a world of grand juries, special prosecutors, and congressional investigations nothing is as blunt a weapon as an American IRB."

Thought of your blog immediately!

PCM said...

Nice article and congrats on the prize.