Throughout history human subject research has been plagued by researchers whose studies were riddled with danger and/or risk to their subjects. Indeed, one may cite numerous situations where human subjects were injured and/or killed in experiments that were designed with no thought or anticipation of risk to the subjects. As a result, the federal government has implemented regulations requiring both medical and academic researchers to assess subject risk prior to initiating any research study. While medical researchers can assess risk using a clinical benefit framework, educational researchers do not have the benefit of that same tool in assessing risk that is not medically focused, such as embarrassment, breach of privacy, etc. This is of particular concern because many educational researchers choose students as their subjects--a population that is typically considered vulnerable to coercion (as defined in federal regulations). Since educational researchers self-identify risk in their own studies upon submission to an institutional review board, what factors or characteristics impact their perception of human subject risk? This ex post facto study compares responses to the question of subject risk as found on IRB applications in samples taken from two institutions of higher education. The study shows that there is no statistically significant relationship between an educational researcher's assessment of risk and his/her academic discipline, his/her funding sponsor, or his/her target subject student status or age. Additionally, the study shows that there is a statistically significant relationship between an educational researcher's assessment of risk and his/her institution type and his/her institutional role. Finally, the study suggests that there is a relationship between an educational researcher's risk assessment and IRB level of review. The study concludes with recommendations for practice and for further research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]