I have been APPROVED

So, sing this first part in your head, maybe in an opera - slash - lounge singer fashion. Or maybe you could sing it all funky like James Brown while there are horns playing in the background. Anyway:

Approval
I have approval
Approval
I have been approved!

No issues with my study, no backtracking, no interruptions, no nothing.

"X Report represents MINOR noncompliance."

Oh yes it does. I have been approved, favorably evaluated, graded satisfactorily, endorsed, sanctioned. What am I, Lisa Simpson?? Grade Me!

I received this notice yesterday, and I was relieved to see that approval message. In addition to this happy result, sort of embedded in one of the many attached forms and letters to this email was a little phrase about the legalities surrounding the use of an informed consent form.

"Per federal regulations, there is no requirement for the use of an informed consent document or study information sheet for exempt research, although one may be used if it is felt to be appropriate for the research being conducted. As such, the IUB IRB will no longer stamp study information sheets / informed consent documents for exempt research. Please note, however, that if a study information sheet and/or informed consent document is to be used, you may use unstamped accepted versions. Please note that your study has been accepted with the use of a study information sheet / informed consent document."

My study is considered exempt because it meets the following qualifications according to the IRB website at Indiana University:

"Studies that involve certain kinds of interventions (mostly research involving educational tests or talking to people) and pose no more than minimal risk to human subjects are usually classified as being exempt from further review. Federal regulations mandate that someone other than the researcher determine whether research is exempt. At IU this is the IRB or Director, IUB Human Subjects Office."

That's kinda weird because I was under the impression that using a consent form for my interviews in which I ask the interviewee's permission to quote them in written works that I publish based on that particular interview was kind of important. On that same form, I also ask permission to deposit the audio recording of each interview at the Archives of African American Music & Culture at Indiana University. I will continue to use the forms, just to keep things consistent. The form also functions as an information sheet for my interviewees about my study and includes contact information for me. So all is good and I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing.