SOCW 671 #3

1. SOCW 671 #3 Research Ethics and Diversity

2. Class Session Objectives • Selecting and informing persons participating in research • Preventing and detecting potential harm to participants • Reporting research • Exploring ethical conflicts • Listing sources of ethical guidance

3. Equitable Selection of Subjects • Based on belief that the research has benefits to participants • Ethical principle is that all relevant subjects have an equal chance of being included • Gender • Race and culture

4. Informed Consent • Participants/subjects usually complete a consent form • Securing a person’s consent to participate in research • need to differentiate between research, evaluation, and quality assurance • person, or someone responsible for this person, usually knows that they are involved in a research project • exceptions in area of naturalistic research (still calls for rigorous and responsible review)

5. Voluntary Participation • Flows from informed consent • People cannot be coerced to participate • therefore people must be fully informed • role of incentives need to be considered • need to guard against vulnerable populations being coerced

6. Privacy and Confidentiality • Need to differentiate between confidentiality and anonymity • confidentiality: researcher may know who subject is • anonymity: researcher is does not know who subject is • Respect for privacy (includes records)

7. Reasonable Risk andHarm to Subjects • Researcher needs to anticipate what will be reasonable harm • Those who voluntarily consent to research activities should be free from unreasonable risk of harm • What constitutes risk and harm • Paradox of payment

8. Withholding Treatment • Potential problems occur when using: • control groups • single-system designs • Can avoid ethical problems by offering treatment after the research period

9. Deception and Debriefing • Should avoid using deception • Need to use an Institutional Review Board (IRB) if deception is used • Researcher has responsibility for debriefing subjects following the study

10. Data Monitoring • In practice-oriented studies, responsibility to modify or terminate study is unanticipated consequences • Responsibility for maintaining integrity of data and monitoring • when clear evidence arises concerning the unexpected negative consequences • if strong positive results are occurring, premature termination may be justified

11. Reporting Research • Objectivity in judgement • Proper credit • Looking “Beyond the Moment” • Statistical versus Practical Significance

12. Sources of Ethical Guidance • NASW Code of Ethics • Code of Federal Regulations (45 CRF 46), and IRBs • Code of Ethics from research and evaluation associations such as • American Evaluation Association • American Statistical Association

13. Institutional Review Board • Required of organizations conducting research with Federal funds • Assume responsibility to assure that all research meet ethical standards • Conduct three types of review • full • expedited • exempt

14. Introduction to Variables

15. Want to measure variables • Variables are persons, places or things that can change • A conceptual entity, any construct or characteristic to which different numerical values can be assigned for purposes of analysis or comparison

16. Variables • Commonly synonymous with the terms factor or characteristic • Independent, Dependent and Control variables • Measurement is the process of assigning numbers (or things that take the place of numbers) to variables according to a set of rules