Ethics Issues in child research

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EthicsIssues in child research
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Steps in the Research Process

• Design a study
• Free from harm
• IRB
• Recruit participants
• The right to be informed
• Test participants
• Incentives
• Report results
• Confidentiality

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Designing Study

• Scientific merit
• Ethical Soundness
• What does non-harm procedure specifically mean?

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• Aggression clip

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No Psychological Harm

• Potential risks, more than minimal
• Potential harm vs. no harm
• Long-term vs. short-term
• psychological damage vs. everyday stress
• Negative self-image vs. negative feeling

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IRB

• Institutional Review Boards
• http//irb.ufl.edu
• Population
• Clinical IRB-01
• Behavior IRB-02
• Children
• Protocol
• Informed consent

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Protocol

• TITLE OF PROTOCOL
• SCIENTIFIC PURPOSE OF THE INVESTIGATION
• DESCRIBE THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN
  NON-TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
• POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND ANTICIPATED RISK
• DESCRIBE HOW PARTICIPANT(S) WILL BE RECRUITED,
  THE NUMBER AND AGE OF THE PARTICIPANTS, AND
  PROPOSED COMPENSATION (if any)
• DESCRIBE THE INFORMED CONSENT PROCESS. INCLUDE A
  COPY OF THE INFORMED CONSENT DOCUMENT

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• There are no risks associated with this research,
  nor are there any direct benefits or compensation
  for the children themselves. The tasks will be
  presented in a game-like atmosphere, and all
  children will be praised for their performance.
  Participation in the study will be voluntary, and
  a child's participation or nonparticipation will
  not affect his or her status in school. The child
  will be free to withdraw from the study at any
  time without penalty, and you are also free at
  any time to withdraw your permission for our use
  of your child's data. Finally, our analyses will
  focus on group data rather than individual
  children, and all results from individual
  children will be kept confidential to the extent
  provided by law. No one other than the two
  investigators and their research assistants will
  have access to the childrens responses.

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Recruiting

• Schools
• Research proposal (3-4 pages) for permission
• School principals, teachers
• Parents and children
• Obtain written consent from Parents
• Obtain oral assent from children
• I'd like to play some little thinking games with
  you. We do the games in the conference room, and
  they'll take about 20 minutes. Would you like to
  come?

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Testing

• Free to withdraw
• Equal incentives
• Stickers, ice cream
• As a tester?
• What are the ways to interact with children?

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• False belief clip

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Reporting Results

• Confidentiality
• Informing results to parents or teachers
• Requests of parents or teachers vs. childrens
  privacy
• Positive but honest feedback
• Jeopardy
• Evidence of a serious problem

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• Questions!?!