Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry
Web Resources
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Formal Ethics and Codes of Practice
Web Link 1: American Association for Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics and Practices
Web Link 3: Data Marketing & Analytics Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice
Description: The above three websites provide the codes of ethics for two areas of applied communication—public opinion research and direct marketing.
Web Link 4: American Psychological Association Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
Description: Many of the ethical principles set out by the APA apply to communication research. APA style is the publication style used to format many communication research papers.
Description: This site, in addition to providing ethical guidelines, sets out all the parties that can impact and be impacted by human subjects research—research participants; sponsors, funders, and employers; colleagues and the discipline; governments and society at large.
Web Link 6: Illinois Institute of Technology Center for the Study of Ethics in the Profession
Description: This site has hundreds of codes of ethics from a variety of disciplines, including communication. In addition to the codes, you can find discussion on the value of having such codes and guidelines on constructing a code for your own organization.
Description: The above code of professional responsibilities for one of the major U.S. academic communication associations sets out professional standards for research, teaching, and publication.
Web Link 8: National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bioethics Resources
Description: This central site provides information on a variety of topics related to research on human subjects in the U.S.
Web Link 9: Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
Description: This site provides information on human subjects research and research ethics.
Web Link 10: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Human Research Protection
Web Link 11: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Informed Consent
Description: The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) provides leadership in the protection of the rights, welfare, and wellbeing of subjects involved in research conducted or supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. OHRP is part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Web Link 12: U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee
Description: This site at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides a timeline and information on the Tuskegee study.
Web Link 13: Remarks by the President [Bill Clinton] in Apology for Study Done in Tuskege
Description: CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same.
Internet Research Ethics
Description: This report of a 1999 workshop lists specific recommendations related to Internet research, ranging from setting up a website of sample informed consent forms to the possibility of special certification for online researchers.
Web Link 2: Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
Description: The AoIR is a cross-disciplinary association of scholars and students and the source of the AoIR guide on ethical decision making and online research, at aoir.org/ethics.