Psychology Departmental Research Ethics Board (Psych-REB)

Psychology Departmental Research Ethics Board(Psych-REB) September 2012 Dr. Jill Singleton-Jackson, Chair

Overview • Introduction: Why an ethics review? • Procedures: Submission and review • Tips & key issues for your method • Common reasons for non-approval • Closing remarks

What is it? Who is this for? • All research that is done at the University of Windsor must first get ethics clearance. • The Psychology Departmental Research Ethics Board (Psych-REB) is a satellite of the University of Windsor Research Ethics Board • The Psychology REB approves undergraduate projects that are completed in a 12 month period. • This is of special interest to undergraduates who are beginning 4th year honours theses

Purpose of the Psych-REB • Ensure that research participants are being treated in ways that respect their dignity and integrity • Teach students about ethical practices and standards in conducting psychological research • Create a paper trail that demonstrates ethical conduct if and when concerns arise at any level (departmental, university, tri-council, civil law)

Educational Objectives • To help thesis students better understand the ethical issues at hand. • Informed consent • Minimal risk… • Create a tutorial on ethics through the application (rather than it being a “black box” process). • Streamline the process to allow for less down time and more student involvement.

How to Submit an application • Print out and complete the “Ethics Application” by hand or fill it out online. • Download and modify the “Informed Consent Form” to suit your project. • (If applicable, you may also need to print out and complete the “Deception Checklist”). • Use the first page of the application form to ensure that your package is complete. • Make a copy. Ethics applications are submitted in duplicate (even revised applications must be submitted in duplicate). • Submit the 2 separatepackages* together to the Psych-REB chairperson. *(i.e. 2 paperclips please!) • Feedback from Psych-REB in about 10-14 days.

Forms are on the psychology, undergraduate website • http://www.uwindsor.ca/psychology • http://www.uwindsor.ca/psychology/undergraduate-thesis-results Let’s go over the forms...

Feedback • Approved in its present form • Pending minor changes specified below. • (These changes can be made by the student researcher alone, and there is no need to resubmit these changes to the Psych-REB). • Pending minor changes & resubmission. • (Changes are specified and resubmission to the Psych-REB for final approval and clearance). • Pending major changes. • (Project requires major changes, which are specified, and must be resubmitted before receiving ethical clearance).

Overview • Introduction: Why an ethics review? • Procedures: Submission and review • Tips & key issues for your design • Common reasons for non-approval • Closing remarks

6 Tips for Ethical Research designs • Following are some practical tips for designing and conducting research that is ethical.

Tip #1 for Ethical Research: Vulnerable Populations • Children, the elderly, animals… People with mental health problems… • Research with vulnerable populations will likely be extensively reviewed and may have to go through the UW-REB.

Tip #2 for Ethical Research: Informed Consent • Participants must know and understand what they are getting themselves into. • A clear and consistent presentation in advertisements, consent forms, etc. is key.

Tip #3 for Ethical Research: Refer to the Literature • There are some research paradigms which are well documented in peer-reviewed literature. If your study makes use of an established procedure you should: • Cite relevant research that used similar designs, especially if there is research indicating whether there were or were not harmful effects to participants. • Provide and consider the year of the study • Milgram!

Tip #4 for Ethical Research: Participants leave feeling in the same state as when they came • Some procedures are emotionally evocative or shift participants’ expectations in some way. If you do this it is good practice to: • Provide a follow-up intervention to help participants return to a positive or at least neutral state before they leave the study. A “mood neutralizer” could be in the form of a relaxation exercise or imagining/remembering some positive experience. • After a “mood neutralizer”, it is good practice to ask participants to rate their current level of distress or anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10; • this is a manipulation check to ensure that participants feel “normal” again before they leave.

Tip #5 for Ethical Research: Debriefing • A debriefing in which the true nature of the study is disclosed to participants and an opportunity to ask questions is an important part of data collection from human participants. A good debriefing tries to: • Engage the participant as a collaborator to discuss the process he/she was involved in. • Disclose to the participant, in plain everyday language and in sufficient detail, exactly what has happened in the data collection process and the true nature of the study. • Explain the rationale for using the method in this particular study. • Provide an opportunity for participants to ask questions of clarification. • Provide, in writing, resources and/or contacts for participant who may have concerns that have come to bear through the nature of the study.

Tip #6 for Ethical Research: Protect Trust • Participants initially volunteer to partake in whatever the study entails. In doing so they entrust themselves to the researcher and the institution that is hosting the research. • It is important to ensure that participants do not feel embarrassed or betrayed as a result of research procedures. • When the study and debriefing is complete, is there a reasonable possibility that participants may perceive that there has been a betrayal of trust or that they have somehow been treated unfairly?

Top 8 most common set backs Inadequate consent forms (#1 - 4) • Did not use the informed consent template as a guide and therefore did not include essential information. • Did not provide contact information for a. student (you), b. Dr. XXX, supervisor of the project (who is ultimately responsible for addressing participant concerns), and/or c. Chairperson of the Psych-REB. • Used the UW REB contact information instead of the Psychology-REB contact info. • Did not include a section in consent form giving permission to use the data in subsequent studies:(when you or your supervisor plans to do so) OR did not state that data will not be used in subsequent studies.

Top 8 most common set backs continued… • Participant pool ad missing: Did not include a recruitment ad to be approved for use in the Participant Pool. • Participant pool points: Presented participation time in a way that was not in line with Participant Pool standards • (Currently, 30 minutes of participation = .5 bonus points). • Incomplete packages: Did not submit ALL materials in duplicate (or did not re-submit in duplicate). • Inconsistencies between the application form, method section, and consent forms. • i.e. The title on the ethics submission form is different than that stated on the consent and/or recruitment ad.

Using archival data? • Attention: Students using archival data for which data collection has already been approved, (perhaps by the University REB on behalf of a supervisor)…. • If what you are doing is already within the limits of the approved study then you must submit only the first page of the ethics application to the Psych-REB and include on that page the: • Ethics approval number of Uwindsor REB • Date of the application. • Name and signature of the Principal Investigator of whoever made the submission. • HOWEVER…. are you planning to collect MORE data?

Contact • Dr. Jill Singleton-Jackson Chair, Psychology Departmental Research Ethics Board. University of Windsor Windsor, ON N9B 3X2 519-253-3000 ext. 4706 email: jjackson@uwindsor.ca

Questions?

Psychology Departmental Research Ethics Board (Psych-REB)