Unit 1 – Research Standards and Guidelines
Discussion Board
Research Project on Informed Consent
Human subjects are being protected both by law and institutional policy (Green, Camilli, Elmore, Skukauskaite & Grace, 2006, p. 70). Informal consent can be defined as the procedures where in an individual can decide whether to join in an investigation after being informed of facts that would affect their choices (Diener & Crandall, 1978 cited in Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2000, p. 51). The rule of informed consent begins from the right to sovereignty and freewill of the subject. Being free is the state of living in a democracy, and when boundaries and restrictions are placed on that freedom, they must be justified and consented to, even in research actions and procedures (Cohen et al., 2000, p. 51). Thus, it can be said that the primary purpose of informed consent is to ensure the autonomy of the subjects as they consider whether or not to take part in a given study of investigation by supplying information regarding the possible risks and benefits of a given study or investigation. It focuses on respecting the right of the target subject to decide on their own, by considering the different aspects of their lives that can be affected by different factors that can be encountered in the future of the study. It also enables to place some of the responsibility on the participants should anything go wrong in the research, study or investigation.
Informed consent must be applied in study regarding education; one of this is the Transgender Discrimination Project, which focuses on documentation of the experiences of transgender people in discrimination in housing, employment, health care as well as education (The Pennsylvania State University, 2009). The use of informed consent form may be required in this study because it tackles on one of the most sensitive issue regarding the personal aspect of an individual, together with the behavior and perspective of the entire society. Aside from that, it will be important to consider that some of the people are reluctant to report harassment and violence due to the extent of discrimination from the entire society. Furthermore, there are different important aspects that must be considered such as the issue of culture, tradition, religion, ethnicity and race that might affect the decision of the subjects to be involved in the project.
On the other hand, it is important to consider that there are some studies or investigation that might be exempted from informed consent requirements. The National Research Act regulations and APA suggest that studies can be considered minimal risk research and can be exempted from informed consent requirements if: data are recorded so that the subjects or participants cannot be recognized in direct or indirect manner; the behaviors being observed are public; the research does not deal with any sensitive or illegal behaviors such as issues of sexual behaviors and substance abuse; the experience of the person will not be affected by the research; and if the person will not be put at risk in the occurrence of a violation of confidentiality such as criminal or civil liability, financial damage or loss of employment (Jacob & Hartshorne, 2003, p. 277).
It can be observed that most of educational research focuses on children, who cannot be considered as being on equal terms with the researcher. In that case, it will be important to take note that there will be difference in gaining informed consent from young or very young children, than those from people in legal age. There are two important stages that must be considered in seeking informed consent with minors: first, researchers must consult and seek permission from those adults that are responsible for the prospective subjects; and second, they must approach the young people themselves (Cohen et al., 2000, p. 52). The researchers must explained all of the important aspects such as the risks, benefits and importance of the study or investigation to the relevant adults, at the same time invite questions from them, until they completely understand the core ideas of the study, and come up with their decision, whether to let their children to be part of the study or not. On the other hand, in seeking on the permission of the children, Fine & Sandstrom stated that researchers must provide a credible and meaningful explanation of their research intentions, particularly in situations where they have little authority, thus children must be given a real and legitimate opportunity to say that they do not want to take part (cited in Cohen et al., 2000, p. 52).
References
Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (2000). Research Methods in Education. Routledge.
Green, J, Camilli, G., Elmore, P., Skukauskaite, A. & Grace, E. (2006). Handbook of Complementary Methods in Education Research. Routledge.
Jacob, S. & Hartshorne, T. (2003). Ethics and Law for School Psychologists. John Wiley and Sons.
The Pennsylvania State University (2009). Transgender Discrimination Project. Retrieved February 9, 2009, from PennState website: http://www.ed.psu.edu/educ/cshe/research/ transgender-discrimination-project
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