N08 - Family and Household Record Linkage: Demonstration and Feedback on Human Subjects Review Guidance

Feel free to bring your lunch to this session!


Family and household linkage methods are increasingly used in research to uncover patterns that would be difficult – or impossible – to detect through individual-level data alone. But these methods raise distinct ethical and regulatory questions for IRBs: How should risks be evaluated when research involves individuals linked by shared relationships? What guidance should IRBs offer on consent, privacy, or secondary use when data spans households or families? This session introduces a set of IRB and researcher guidance materials, including an IRB supplement and case-based workbook for researchers, developed to support ethical use of these methods and oversight of studies using family linkage methods. Attendees will explore these materials through an interactive example and contribute feedback to help shape how IRBs can apply consistent, ethics-informed review practices in this emerging area.