I'm pretty sure my IRB Research certification will cover the level of research I'll be doing, which won't be too extensive, and I'm on a work visa besides. But I'll look into it a bit more to be sure, thanks.

Ahhh, well many of those. My Undergrad was political science, my Grad degree is International Development, but the formal research process is sociological, so sociology.

@Alien well I've got a year so I haven't developed much yet, I'm just in the stage of finding out exactly what I wanna do. With this it would most likely be focused on the socioeconomic scene of the situation in China, with the effects of Shaolin Temple's business oriented actions and people's views of them, and also maybe other authorities' views like the Abbot's. But again, I don't know much at all, it's all just gathering ideas right now.

Great article, its sparked my interest and given me some clarity on what I want to research here in Yunnan. I'm here in a grad program and I'm thinking of doing my thesis research on something in relation to this event. If anyone has any advise, contacts, or other resources for me I'd greatly appreciate it!