Ethical Issues In Survey
Research
Created @January 20, 2023 3:14 PM
Class RW: Survey
Type Reading
Stage? Drafting
Reviewed
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Materials
Reading 1
Reading 2
Like all research that involves humans, surveys should also be ethically considerate.
A Basic Guideline for the Researcher is that: No individual suffers any ADVERSE
CONSEQUENCE because of the survey.
A good researcher will also be focused on MAXIMISING the POSITIVE
OUTCOMES of the research project.
BELMONT REPORT:
- Foundation for most of the guidelines for protecting human subjects in research in
the US.
- The report was presented by the National Commission for the Protection of Human
Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioural Research, 1979.
Institutional Review Board (IRB):
- Almost all universities and organisations that conduct federally funded research
have an IRB.
Ethical Issues In Survey Research 1
, - When research is proposed, the Principal Investigator must submit the
proposed protocol for IRB Review before collecting data.
- The IRB Review is designed to protect subjects, researchers, and institutions.
- IRB’s greatest concerns are about research that involves some kind of risk to
participants.
- IRB does not really have any basis to scrutinise the details of the research or to
recommend changes.
- However, because they involve subjects, the material must be provided to the
IRB so that someone (often the Chair) can determine that the protocol meets those
standards.
- If the survey does involve some level of potential risk, or if vulnerable
populations are involved, the IRB has the responsibility formally to review all procedures
to make sure the human subjects are well protected.
Minimal Risk is the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in
the research are not greater in and of themselves than those ordinarily encountered
in everyday life or during the course of routine physical or psychological
examinations or tests.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 2005, research
activities in which the only involvement of human subjects will be educational tests,
survey procedures, or observation of public behavior are exempt unless:
1. Information about participants is recorded in a way in which they can be identified.
2. Any disclosure of the human subjects’ responses could reasonably place subjects
at risk
of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the subjects’ financial standing,
employabil-
ity, or reputation.
Informing Respondents
Basic Premise of Ethical Survey Research: Respondents should be informed about
what it is that they are volunteering for.
Ethical Issues In Survey Research 2