Is there a federal law stating that his students cannot interview administrations in order to learn about educational practice. Other concerns pertain to academic freedom. For general classroom studies, related to professional issues, this policy is very restrictive. There are guidelines. IRB is given mandate at each institution to construct policy at any given institution.
Intention is key to limitations on gathering data.
Donnelly asked for distinction between data and information. There are classifications of data gathering that are exempt from IRB oversight. We don't have the time to go into this at this time. The atmosphere surrounding human-subject research has changed. Documentation is now necessary.