Hacker News Reader

It's always struck me as odd that American universities' standards for these things are so much stricter than American businesses' standards.

After all, every A/B test, every gradual rollout of software features, and every measurement of a user's response to an ad is an experiment with a human test subject.

I wonder why the standards imposed on universities are so much more demanding than the standards imposed on businesses?

View on HN

Universities hold themselves to a higher standard because they operate (or at least want to maintain the pretense of operating) for the benefit of the world, while businesses only care about benefiting their shareholders.

The IRB requirement is not self-imposed by universities holding themselves to a higher standard. It's a federal regulation which is imposed on them.

Science is about doing it right, business is about doing just enough to get the job done.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com