Johnson, Educational Research, 7e

SAGE Publishing, 2020

Suggested Answers to Review Questions

Chapter 6: Research Ethics

6.1. What is the definition of ethics, and how does this definition relate to research?
Ethics are the principles and guidelines that help us to uphold the things we value.
Researchers must conduct research in an ethical manner. In educational research, the
American Educational Research Association has developed a set of ethical guidelines that
must be followed. You can view these guidelines at this URL:
http://www.aera.net/Portals/38/docs/About_AERA/CodeOfEthics(1).pdf

6.2. How do the three approaches that are used in considering ethical issues in
research differ?
The three major approaches to ethics are the deontological approach (which states that we
should identify and use a Universal code in making ethical decisions); the ethical skepticism
approach (which says that ethical standards are not universal but are relative to one’s own
particular culture and time); and the utilitarianism approach (which says that decisions should
be based on an examination and comparison of the costs and benefits that may arise from a
study). As you can see, one approach is absolutist, one is relativist, and one says to evaluate
the costs and benefits and then make a decision. Researchers and institutional review boards
at universities rely predominantly on the utilitarian approach.

6.3. How do societal concerns relate to research ethics?

The biggest source of research funding comes from the federal government, Congress, and
nonprofit agencies. The federal government, Congress, and nonprofit agencies set priorities
based on what they consider to be the most pressing societal issues and they fund studies that
are directed toward these priorities. In this way, society indirectly affects the conduct of
research.

6.4. What are the professional issues involved in research ethics, and what is the
appropriate ethical behavior related to each of these issues?
Professional issues include the following:
 Scientific misconduct, which involves fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism. This is
the most serious professional issue and the most serious form of scientific
misconduct is the falsification or fabrication of research results.
 Overlooking others’ use of flawed data
 Failing to present data contradicting one’s own work
 Circumventing some human subjects requirements
 Johnson, Educational Research, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
The appropriate ethical behavior for each of these is following ethical principles. Plagiarism
should be avoided at all costs; simply citing sources will remedy this. Research results should
be verified by others. If flawed data are being used, it should be acknowledged. Data that
contradicts one’s own work should be included. And finally, IRB requirements for human
subjects should be followed to the letter.

6.5. Why is treatment of the research participant an ethical issue to be considered in

educational research when the potential for physical and psychological harm is
minimal?
The treatment of research participants is, perhaps, the most fundamental ethical issue in
research, and it involves insuring that the research participants are not harmed physically or
psychologically in any way. This issue is essential because if researchers mistreat people and
violate their individual rights, then the entire enterprise of research has failed. The book
chapter discusses some egregious examples of unethical treatment of participants that has
occurred in the past (e.g., see the Tuskegee Experiment). While serious ethical issues do not
typically exist in educational research, subtle and important ethical issues can arise
emphasizing the need for ethical oversight in educational research.

6.6. What must a researcher do to ensure that his or her study is ethical?
The researcher must carefully consider all the ethical issues that may arise in the conduct of a
study and plan and design the study to prevent unethical mistakes. The researcher also must
submit an IRB Protocol to be reviewed by the Institutional Review Board to make sure the
plan demonstrates an understanding of the ethical issues involved and that all guidelines are
met. Note that many subtle issues can be involved that the researcher must be aware of; for
example, researchers are often in a power relationship with potential participants so the
researcher must do everything he or she can to make potential participants know and FEEL
free not to participate and, later, to withdraw if they want to do so. Informed consent is a
must before anyone participates in a research study.

6.7. What kinds of information does a consent form have to include?

Informed consent is provided by research participants and it means they know what
participation in the study entails and that they choose to voluntarily participate. To obtain
informed consent you need to provide the following information to potential participants: a
statement of the research purpose; description of any potential risks or discomforts;
description of potential benefits; description of confidentiality policy to be used; giving a list
of names participants can contact if they have any questions; and a statement that
participation is voluntary and participants are free to withdraw at any time from the study
(for the full list, see Table 6.2).

6.8. Under what conditions can an investigator get a waiver of the requirement of
informed consent?
 Johnson, Educational Research, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
When obtaining informed consent would alter the results of a study or a study cannot be
conducted if informed consent is required, informed consent may be waived. The conditions
under which informed consent can be waived include:
1. Anonymity and minimal risk to the research participant
2. Informed consent cannot be obtained due to cultural norms of the participants
3. Obtaining informed consent would subject the research participants to risk

6.9. What is the difference between consent from a minor’s legal guardian and assent
from the minor, and why are both important?
Legally, minors must have their parent or guardian’s consent for them to participate in a
research study. The parent or guardian needs to read, consider, and decide whether to sign the
consent form for their child to participate in the study. An actual consent form is shown in
Exhibit 6.4. In addition to the parent’s consent, the minor must provide assent; assent means
that the minor agrees to participate in a study after being informed of all the features of the
study that could affect the participant’s willingness to participate. The researcher discusses
the issues with the minor and should then have the minor also sign the consent form (if he or
she can write) to record his or her assent. Also note on the consent form the following
sentence: “If you are willing for your child to participate, and your child wants to participate,
please sign below and return this form to school with your child ...”

6.10. What is the difference between active and passive consent, and what are the
advantages and disadvantages of each?
Active consent has been the norm in research for many years. Active consent is the process
whereby a potential participant indicates his or her consent by signing the consent form. The
advantage of active consent is that it is the most direct form of consent, and it is usually the
recommended form of consent. The disadvantage is that when used with parents or guardians
must provide consent for minors, the parents or guardians may not return a consent form for
reasons other than lack of consent. To help solve this problem, some researchers use passive
consent for minimal risk studies such as surveys or routine instruction. Passive consent is the
process whereby consent is given by not returning the consent form. Note the following
passage in the passive consent form shown in Exhibit 6.5: “Participation in this study is
completely voluntary. All students in the class will take the test. If you do not wish for your
child to be in this study, please fill out the form at the bottom of this letter and return it to me.
Also, please tell your child to hand in a blank test sheet when the class is given the
mathematics test so that your child will not be included in this study.” The advantage of
passive consent is that more children will be allowed to participate in research, including
children who would have been missed by active consent if their parents simply forgot to sign
and send in the active consent form or if the child did not get it back to the teacher. In other
words, active consent forms that are not returned often do not mean lack of consent; it can
because the parents did not get the form, did not take the time to look at the form, etc. Still,
passive consent is controversial and the legislation in this area should be carefully followed.

6.11. What is deception, and when is it used in a research study?

 Johnson, Educational Research, 7e
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Deception is the lack of full disclosure to participants. It can be used if it is needed to
produce a scientifically valid research study. However, the use of deception must be clearly
justified, and the advantages must outweigh the disadvantages and this must be approved by
the Institutional Review Board.

6.12. What are the ethical obligations of a researcher who makes use of deception?
The researcher is ethically obligated not to use any more deception than is needed to conduct
a valid study. If deception is used subjects must be debriefed. Debriefing is a post-study
interview that provides you with the opportunity to explain the study to the research
participants (e.g., why deception was used if it was, reveal the true nature of the study, and
answer any questions participants might have). Debriefing includes (a) dehoaxing and (b)
desensitizing. Dehoaxing involves informing your participants about any deceptive aspects of
your study and helping each participant to understand the reasons for it and understand that
the researcher is truthful and well meaning if deception was used. Desensitizing involves
your attempts to reduce or eliminate any stress or other undesirable feelings that might have
been created in someone through participation in the study; that is, if the study has made the
subject feel uncomfortable or stressful this is where the researcher attempts to eliminate this
psychological damage.

6.13. Why can participants still feel pressured to participate in a study even after the
researcher has stated that they can withdraw or decline to participate?
Mainly because they may feel some sort of implicit cultural pressure not to withdraw.
Researchers in a power relationship with potential participants must be extra careful that
people do not feel pressured or coerced to participate. The researcher must make participants
feel that there will really be no adverse effect if they refuse to participate or decide to
withdraw after starting participation.

6.14. What are the issues relating to freedom to withdraw with respect to minors?
The minor’s wish to dissent (e.g., not participate or drop out) must be respected according to
the ethical standards of, for example, the AERA and the SRCD. Things get more complicated
when the minor is too young to understand what participation entails, as is the case with very
young children and infants. The research must, in these cases, look out for any verbal or
nonverbal indicators of discomfort and wish for dropping out.

6.15. Why do educational researchers have to be concerned with protecting

participants from mental and physical harm in their studies?
Because we live in a society where we have the right to privacy and the right to expect
freedom from surveillance of our behavior without our consent. We also have the right to
know when our behavior is being manipulated, and, if so, why. The research enterprise must
protect its most valuable resource: the actual participants in our research studies. While much
of educational research is exempt from oversight, it is frequently difficult to identify the
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nature of educational research that is exempt. Also, qualitative research is an ongoing and
evolving research process and it is difficult to insure that all activities would qualify for
exempt status.

6.16. What is the difference between confidentiality and anonymity and how do each
of these relate to the concept of privacy?
The concept of privacy refers to controlling other people’s access to information about a
person in the research study that you conduct. Research participants’ privacy can be
protected by collecting confidential or anonymous information. Confidential
information is collected when the identity of the participant is not revealed to anyone
other than the researcher and his or her staff. Anonymous information is collected
when the identity of the participant providing the research information is not known
by anyone, including the researcher. An example of this would be where a researcher
had a large group of people fill out a survey instrument but NOT include their names
on the instruments. In this way, the researcher will have the data but no names.

6.17. What is the purpose of the IRB?

It is the researcher’s and Institutional Review Board’s responsibility to ensure that all
research studies conducted at a university meet all ethical requirements discussed in this
chapter.

6.18. What kinds of information should be contained in a research protocol submitted

to the IRB?

This information is shown in Table 6.3 and reproduced here for your convenience.

6.19. What are exempt studies, and what type of studies meet the exempt criterion?
Exempt studies are studies involving no risk to participants and not requiring full IRB
review. A list of exempt categories is given in Table 6.4. Many educational research studies
are exempt from full IRB review; however, it is the IRB staff and not the researcher who
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must make the decision as to whether a research protocol is exempt. If a study is exempt, the
IRB will provide documentation of this status.

6.20. What is expedited review, and what type of studies would receive expedited
review?
Expedited review is the process by which a study is rapidly reviewed by fewer members than
constitute the full IRB board. Studies likely to receive expedited review must involve no
more than minimal risk such as many survey studies, or studies that involve interviews, or
focus groups.

6.21. What are the ethical issues involved in conducting research on the Internet?
One ethical issue involves informed consent. This includes determining when informed
consent should be obtained and if informed consent should be obtained, how it should be
obtained, and how to make sure that the participants actually provide informed consent. A
second issue involves maintaining the privacy of the research data collected. This is an issue
because there are limits to the ability to maintain privacy and confidentiality when collecting
data via the Internet. A third ethical issue involves debriefing participants. Debriefing, when
conducting an Internet study, can be difficult because a participant can, for a variety of
reasons, terminate participation prior to being debriefed.

6.22. What are the ethical issues involved in the preparation of the research report?
The key ethical issues involved in preparing the research report include: (1) deciding who
should receive authorship for the study and (2) insuring that plagiarism does not occur when
writing the research report.

6.23. What constitutes plagiarism, and how do you give credit to another person when
you use his or her work?
Plagiarism occurs when you have copied someone else’s work and have not given them
credit for that work. Credit is given to another person by putting their work in quotation
marks or indenting the quoted material and then giving a citation for the material you have
quoted.