ABSTRACT
It is common knowledge among social scientists that research involving human participants needs to be reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at an individual’s university before any data collection can proceed. A more complex issue that arises for individuals conducting comparative politics experiments is whether some type of local ethical review should also be acquired. Local ethical review is a review that takes place in the locality or institution where research is set to take place. For comparative politics experiments, local ethical review would entail getting reviewed in the country where the experiments are to be conducted. In some cases, the IRB at one’s university may require such an approval. In other cases, it may not be required by one’s institutional IRB, but may be required in the particular country where the study is to be conducted, or the researcher may think it is desirable.
