Social Media Research

Social media is becoming a popular tool to advertise, recruit and collect data.  Unfortunately Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Defense (DOD), nor the Department of the Navy (DON) have published review guidance.  The IRB has worked closely with Command Counsel in the review of research involving data collection in Facebook, Amazon Turk, and Twitter. 

Researchers considering leveraging social media in the conduct of their research are strongly encouraged to submit a determination request.   The IRB will work with Command Counsel and the Privacy Manager in reviewing whether the information to be collected is considered “public” according to the sites privacy and terms of use policy.