Research surveys may not be private after all

For all the effort and assurance that we follow IRB protocols, blind studies may not necessarily be so blind. A project which involved interviews of IRA participants in Ireland was subpoenaed as part of a government investigation into past criminal acts by the organization. Researchers balked and went to court to quash the subpoena. An appeals court has affirmed that the records must be provided to investigators. This may have a chilling effect on the willingness of people to participate in such studies in the future – if not also endanger some of those who participated in the project named in this litigation.