Virginia Law

Research activities in which the only involvement of human participants will be in one or more of the following categories are exempt from this chapter unless the research is covered by other sections of this chapter:

1. Human research which is subject to policies and regulations for the protection of human subjects promulgated by any agency of the federal government, except for the provisions in 22VAC40-890-40 C and 22VAC40-890-90 B.

2. Research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings involving commonly used educational practices, provided that participants cannot be identified, directly or through identifiers, for:

a. Regular and special education instructional strategies;

b. The effectiveness of or the comparison among instructional techniques, curriculum or classroom management methods; or

c. Educational tests.

3. Research involving solely the observation of public behavior or survey or interview procedures, except when observations or responses are recorded in such a manner that participants can be identified directly or through identifiers linked to the participants, and when either (i) the participant's responses, if they became known outside the research, could reasonably place the participant at risk of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the participant's financial standing or employability; or (ii) the research deals with sensitive aspects of the participant's own behavior, such as sexual behavior, drug or alcohol use or illegal conduct.

4. Research involving survey or interview procedures, when the respondents are elected or appointed public officials or candidates for public office.

5. Research involving solely the collection or study of existing data, documents, or records, if these sources are publicly available or if the information taken from these sources is recorded in such a manner that participants cannot be identified directly or through identifiers linked to the participants.

6. Research and demonstration projects covered under 45 CFR 46.101(b)(5) which are conducted by or subject to the approval of the commissioner, and which are designed to study, evaluate, or otherwise examine (i) public benefit or service programs; (ii) procedures for obtaining benefits or services under those programs; (iii) possible changes in or alternatives to those programs or procedures; or (iv) possible changes in methods or levels of payment for benefits or services under those programs.