Application Exercises

Chapter specific application exercises will help you think about research design in practice or have you explore a relevant resource.

Exercise 1: The Ethics of Content Analysis

A student wishes to analyze the content of student blogs posted to the web, and to publish the results of her analysis.

List the reasons why she should seek IRB approval for her research, and the reasons an IRB approval is not necessary. Come to a conclusion as to whether an IRB approval is needed or not. Identify the web resources that would be most helpful to her in deciding whether to seek IRB approval. Should the fact that these blogs are part of an online class in which she is participating affect her thinking about IRB approval?

Exercise 2: Ethics and Virtual Respondents

You are a member of Second Life—the virtual world populated by avatars. For a research project, the results of which will be published, you seek to interview two other members: Princess Morag the Malevolent, mighty slayer of dragons, and her associate, Vangoth the Vulgarian, on whether their attitudes toward dragon extermination are influenced by high levels of exposure to Harry Potter movies.

Identify any research approvals you think you would need to obtain for this research.

Exercise 3: The Ethics of Internet Research

You have been asked to advise your campus IRB on whether campus-based Internet research implies a special set of “e-ethics” specific to research on and of the Internet. There is some thinking that the basic principles of human subjects research protections cover Internet research adequately and that no specific guidelines for such research are required. List the sources of information you might go to in order to write a report and recommendations for your board.

Exercise 4: The Ethics of Public Opinion Polling

Many research firms do survey work for clients other than the federal government and therefore may not require IRB approvals. This does not mean that such organizations lack a code of ethics. For example, you can find the codes under which the Pew Research Center operates at its “FAQ” page: www.people-press.org/methodology/frequently-asked-questions/.
Under “Do pollsters have a code of ethics? If so, what is in the code?” Pew links to two codes—those of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO).
Examine these two professional codes of practice and note where they do and do not overlap with respect to (a) underlying principles set out in the Belmont Report and (b) specific issues addressed in this chapter, such as parental consent for researching minors, verification of participant identities, informed consent, and debriefing.