Data collection for internal departmental, school, or other institutional administrative purposes (i.e., teaching evaluations, customer service surveys)
Information-gathering interviews where questions focus on things, products, or policies rather than about people or their thoughts (i.e., canvassing librarians about inter-library loan policies or rising journal costs)
Publicly available data does not require IRB approval (i.e., internet data, census data, labor statistics, public records).
Coded data that were not collected for the currently proposed projects as long as the investigator receiving the data cannot link the data back to the individual
Case Studies which are published and/or presented at national or regional meetings are often not considered human subject research if the case is limited to a description of the clinical features and/or outcome of a single patient and do not contribute to generalizable knowledge. (For example, the comparison of case studies would qualify as human subject research.)
Note: When there is any doubt as to whether or not a study could qualify as human subject research, you should submit an abstract to the Office of Research Integrity for an IRB chairman or the director to review and make a determination.