TAB E




                           DISCLAIMER

The following is a staff memorandum or other working document 
prepared for the members of the Advisory Committee on Human
Radiation Experiments.  It should not be construed as representing
the final conclusions of fact or interpretation of the issues. 
All staff memoranda are subject to revision based on further 
information and analysis.  For conclusions and recommendations of
the Advisory Committee, readers are advised to consult the Final
Report to be published in 1995.

              ****DRAFT þ FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES****

                              MEMORANDUM

TO:       Members of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation
          Experiments

FROM:     Oral History Subcommittee

DATE:     August 29, 1994

RE:       Status Report on Subcommittee Activities




I.   IRB Review of the Oral History Project

     Because the Ethics Oral History Project involves the
collection of information from human subjects, and the Advisory
Committee seeks to draw generalizable conclusions from this
information, we believe the project is subject to review by an
IRB.  Susan Lederer, chair of the Oral History Subcommittee, has
been named the principal investigator for the project. 
Consequently, the protocol for the oral history project will be
submitted to the IRB of her affiliated academic institution, the
Pennsylvania State University, for approval.  A formal research
protocol and consent form are being drafted for the application
to the IRB of the University's  College of Medicine, which is
known as the Clinical Investigation Committee (CIC).


II.  Set of Core Questions

     A set of core questions is under development by the
Subcommittee and staff.  (See Attachment 1.)  Questions are
designed so that their language is not inappropriately leading or
limiting.  In addition, the questions are flexible and
"personalizable" for each interview subject, according to the
judgement of the historians conducting the interview.  

     An important consideration for the design of the core
questions is the intersection of the Ethics Oral History Project
with the less formal journalistic interview project being
conducted by the staff.  Questions specific to each project have
been merged to produce a throrough set of core questions better
serving the ends of both projects.


                                  1

     The core questions will be submitted to the expert
consultant panel of ethicists and historians that the
Subcommittee has assembled for feedback.  In addition, the core
questions will be included in the application for IRB approval of
the project.


III. Recruiting Interviewees

      A list of ten to twenty-five senior research scientists
active both radiation and non-radiation research from 1942 to the
present, in both radiation and non-radiation research, is being
finalized.  These potential interviewees will be drawn from two
age cohorts:  one of clinical researchers who began their careers
in the 1940s or 1950s and the other of those whose careers began
in the early 1970s, when the federal government became
extensively involved in the regulation of human experimentation. 
Once the project has been reviewed and approved by an IRB, formal
contact with these individuals will be made.  


IV.  Methodology

     The Subcommittee plans to follow a formal, rigorous oral
history methodology.   In preparation for each interview,
experienced historians on the Advisory Committee and staff will
read published and unpublished source material by and about the
interviewee. The list of core questions discussed above will be
tailored and expanded for each subject according to the reviewed
source materials. 

     Three people will be present in the room with the interview
subject at the time of the interview: two trained historians to
keep interview flowing and to monitor the coverage of specific
questions and issues, and a third individual who will take notes
on the interview and the spelling of names to facillitate the
post-interview transcription process.  Each interview will be
tape-recorded, and professionally transcribed.  The
transcriptions will be distributed to the subjects for their
review.