Deck 14: Ethical Issues in Conducting the Study

Question 1

The Nuremberg Code principles state that:

A) Human subject consent must be voluntary
B) The researcher must be credentialed by the scientific community
C) Once permission is given, the researcher is not obligated to stop the research
D) a and c

Answer 1

Human subject consent must be voluntary

Question 2

The Belmont Report lists ethical principles to guide human research. These principles include:

A) The elderly, children, and mentally retarded individuals require special protections
B) Approved researchers can make decisions for individuals with diminished autonomy
C) Participant risks and benefits should be carefully weighed
D) a and c

Answer 2

a and c

Question 3

The information provided to study participants should include:

A) Technical language used by the researcher(s)
B) The purpose for the study and the study's procedure(s)
C) Only the information that the researcher wants to share with the participants
D) a and b

Answer 3

The purpose for the study and the study's procedure(s)

Question 4

A signed consent form may be omitted when:

A) Participants can easily refuse by not returning the questionnaire
B) When signed consents might stigmatize or jeopardize participants' well-being
C) When the researcher considers the consent form to be unnecessary
D) a and b
E) All of the above

Question 5

Researchers can maximize the benefits of research by:

A) Making promises to society about potential, long-term outcomes
B) Providing an informative debriefing after the research
C) Offering financial incentives whenever possible
D) a and c

Question 6

Rather than using deception, researchers can collect sensitive data by:

A) Using ethnographic approaches and observing real behavior
B) Gaining approval from the Institutional Review Board to use deception
C) Gaining consent from participants to conceal some information about the study until its completion
D) a and c

Question 7

Alternatives to using deception in research include:

A) Using simulations to study social behavior
B) Relying on researcher trust and rapport with participants who have been fully informed
C) Guaranteeing a full debriefing with an opportunity to withdraw from the study
D) All of the above

Question 8

Ethical considerations in animal research include:

A) The cost to the research institution (to maintain the animals)
B) The cost of the laboratory equipment to properly train the animals
C) The justification for the number and species to be used
D) b and c

Question 9

The Institutional Review Board will want to see:

A) Recruiting materials, such as flyers for the study
B) Cover letters accompanying questionnaires
C) Scripts used with telephone surveys
D) All of the above

Question 10

Ways to ensure confidentiality to participants include:

A) Keeping coded lists of participants in a locked location separate from the data
B) Maintaining participant names on only the original raw data forms
C) Keeping an audiotaped record of participants' names, rather than a written record
D) All of the above

Question 11

The Institutional Review Board does not have to review the following research:

A) Pilot tests to fine tune a questionnaire on a few acquaintances
B) Exempted research
C) Anonymous questionnaires
D) All of the above

Question 12

The research protocol to the Institutional Review Board should include:

A) An analysis of the risk/benefit ratio
B) A justification for using vulnerable populations
C) Information about the ethnicity of the participants
D) All of the above

Question 13

Some ways to ensure data integrity include:

A) Eliminating participants who answer incorrectly
B) Carefully training observers and assistants
C) Using computers to decrease transcription errors
D) All of the above

Question 14

The term "human subjects" stresses the voluntary and collaborative relationship between the researcher and participant.

Question 15

Institutional Review Boards mandate that voluntary informed consent be obtained from participants before enrolling them in research.

Question 16

Researchers should be aware of potential conflicts of interest between children and their legal guardians.

Question 17

Deception is allowed in research if the researcher can demonstrate that it will do no harm.

Question 18

Consent may be withdrawn at any time by the participant.

Question 19

Financial inducements may affect the "voluntariness" of research.

Question 20

Returning a mailed survey indicates the participant's consent to participate.

Question 21

Obtaining consent is not necessary when a signed consent form is not required.

Question 22

Informative debriefing should follow immediately after the research.

Question 23

The essence of privacy is that the participant is free to choose what he/she will share with the researcher.

Question 24

Data must be anonymous and confidential.

Question 25

Consent forms should be kept in a secure place for three years.

Question 26

Lists of participants should be kept confidential and destroyed after the project.

Question 27

Researchers should attempt to gain full access to medical files or lists of patients so that these potential participants can be contacted directly by the researcher.

Question 28

Brokered data are obtained when the cooperating agency contacts participants on behalf of the researcher.

Question 29

Deception involves a misrepresentation of facts by commission.

Question 30

Concealment occurs when the researcher omits important information about the study.

Question 31

Some researchers believe that concealment or deception is necessary when important behaviors would disappear with fully informed consent.

Question 32

Debriefing should be done without demeaning the participants' behavior or attitudes.

Question 33

Debriefing should always be done with research study participants.

Question 34

When using a placebo control group, the Institutional Review Board needs to be convinced that such a group is not being deprived of a benefit that it already has.

Question 35

If an experimental treatment significantly, positively affects outcomes, control group members should also be offered the treatment.

Question 36

Once an informed consent is obtained, the researcher is no longer liable if actual harm results from the research.

Question 37

Experimental research has greater ethical risks than qualitative research.

Question 38

Focus groups pose special confidentiality problems because participants may talk outside the group.

Question 39

All institutional research that systematically collects data to develop a generalized body of knowledge should be reviewed.

Question 40

The Institutional Review Board is not obligated to consider community standards.

Question 41

If the researcher changes the procedure or instruments, re-approval must be obtained from the Institutional Review Board.

Question 42

Most good research (qualitative and quantitative) begins with pilot testing.

Question 43

Standardized, well-established measurement instruments do not require pilot testing.

Question 44

How is consent obtained?

Question 45

What research should be reviewed by the Human Subjects Committee?