Post on 01-Apr-2015
Students and pupils as research participants:
ethical issuesGeorge Ellison Research and Graduate School g.ellison@londonmet.ac.uk
Georgie Parry-CrookeDASS/Centre for Social Evaluation Researchg.parry-crooke@londonmet.ac.uk
ContextResearch involving a researcher’s
students/pupils has:• a long tradition in pedagogic and
educational research, including research by teachers and lecturers at Schools, Colleges and Universities
• been actively promoted by learned societies and teaching agencies (including the TDA and DCSF) as part of moves to encourage research and scholarship amongst teachers
• been a core aspect of the rationale of many Professional Doctorate degree programmes (including the EdD)
• received considerable attention from the ethics and research communities, such as the BERA guidance:“Researchers engaged in action research must consider the extent to which their own reflective research impinges on others, for example in the case of the dual role of teacher and researcher… Dual roles may also introduce explicit tensions in areas such as confidentiality and must be addressed accordingly”
Case study - backgroundSeminar participants were asked to consider
the following:A lecturer, in reviewing the results of their
module from the past year notices that male students have
performed much better than women studentsThey decide to introduce a new design to the
module toprovide an experimental context in which they
can evaluatedifferential performance by student genderTheir research design will involve:• ongoing (process) evaluation of the module• review of marks allocated to male and
female students• interviews with students to gauge their
perceptions* * interviews conducted before the course
ends to ensure that all students are available to participate
What are the ethical issues?How might these issues be resolved
Case study - feedbackFour groups of seminar participants offered
the following feedback: If the module is experimental or formal research,
participants felt that fully informed consent must be obtained before students sign up for module and that students must be able to opt out of the module (i.e. it must be an optional not a compulsory module)
If the research involves interviewing students, participants felt it would be crucial to ensure confidentiality so that they are not linked to the students or their work until after the module’s marks have been allocated and published – to achieve confidentiality it may be good practice to ask a colleague to conduct the interviews
It would be important to address any fears students may have of being penalised for not taking part or that their participation may positively or negatively prejudice their performance/assessment in the module or course, addressing these fears in the consent form
There were a number of concerns about what was felt to be poor research design, including the possibility of positive bias and the Hawthorne effect influencing students’ evaluation of the module
Participants felt that the students should be offered the option of receiving feedback on the results of the lecturer’s research project
Key ethical concernsResearch involving a researcher’s
students/pupils as research participants raises a number of ethical
concerns, including:• Consent – participation in research should
be voluntary, should be perceived as voluntary, and should not be subject to excessive reward/sanction (real or perceived); and research participants should provide fully informed consent whenever this is possible
• Confidentiality – information collected from research participants should be treated in confidence and should not be disclosed or used for unrelated purposes (except by prior agreement with the participant or to address specified risks to the participant, researcher or others)
• Competence – research with participants who may be judged to have reduced competence to provide consent (including children) benefit from/require advocacy
Potential solutions1. Minimise risks [risk declines from (vi)-(i)]
(i) research students/pupils elsewhere(ii) research other’s students/pupils in your setting
(iii) research but do not assess your own students/pupils
(iv) research your own students/pupils using methods that
generate anonymous data unlink-able to assessment
(v) research your own students/pupils but use anonymous
assessment techniques unlink-able to research data
(vi) research and assess your own students/pupils but have
assessments independently moderated/second-marked
2. Address dual role within consent(i) follow standard guidance for consent*
(ii) emphasise voluntary nature of participation
(iii) emphasise absence of reward or sanction
(iv) explain how research and assessment are separated
*Guidance on consent can be found at:www.londonmet.ac.uk/londonmet/library/a88360_4.ppt
Key components of informed consent Informed consent should involve the
provision or collection of information on: Name and contact details of researcher Name and contact details of participant Aims and objectives of the research
project Role of the participant in the research
project Treatment of material/information
collected Potential risks to the participant Sources of
advice/help/support/treatment Voluntary participation and freedom to
withdraw Option of receiving summary of
research findings Confirmation that project has ethical
approval Contact details of RERP Chair and
Clerk Signature and date of researcher and
participantWritten consent involves/requires the
retention of copies by researcher and participant
Different forms of (informed) consentThere are three principal forms of (informed)
consent:• Presumed consent – in which participants
are presumed to have consented to participation in the research unless they indicate otherwise*
• Verbal consent – in which the researcher verbally informs participants and receives oral confirmation of consent**
• Written consent – in which the researcher provides written information regarding the research project to participants, and retains a signed copy of this ‘consent form’
* presumed consent may be ethical when the participant is incompetent and when the benefits of the research outweigh any potential physical or social risks
** it may be impossible to obtain written consent in some types of studies (such as telephone interviews) but wherever possible the consent process should be recorded
Examples of informed consent formsExamples of informed consent forms are
available from a range of ethics and research
organisations: National Institute for Health
Research:http://rdfunding.org.uk/flowchart/ConsentForm.htm
National Research Ethics Servicehttp://www.nres.npsa.nhs.uk/rec-community/guidance/#InformedConsent
Department of Healthhttp://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Scientificdevelopmentgeneticsandbioethics/Consent/Consentgeneralinformation/index.htm
Economic and Social Research Councilhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/ESRC_Re_Ethics_Frame_tcm6-11291.pdf