If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.
You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!
This workshop has online and in class components and consists of a self-paced slide show, tasks for you to complete, as well as links and basic information below. The slides are available in Keynote and PDFs (PDFs are accessible for screen readers). These slides are plain and designed to download fast and simply provide you with information you need for this course.
You must post any required tasks to this wiki AND attend the in class workshop for credit. Make sure you identify yourself for your posts below.
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has published a revised ‘Framework for Research Ethics (FRE)’, which is available in full on the Web. This highlights six key principles of ethical research — principles that the ‘ESRC expects to be addressed whenever applicable — are:
1. Research should be designed, reviewed and undertaken to ensure integrity, quality and transparency. 2. Research staff and participants must normally be informed fully about the purpose, methods and intended possible uses of the research, what their participation in the research entails and what risks, if any, are involved. 3. The confidentiality of information supplied by research participants and the anonymity of respondents must be respected. 4. Research participants must take part voluntarily, free from any coercion. 5. Harm to research participants must be avoided in all instances. 6. The independence of research must be clear, and any conflicts of interest or partiality must be explicit.
In addition, the report highlights key procedural issues for implementing these principles:
• The responsibility for conduct of the research in line with relevant principles rests with the principal investigator and the research / employing organization. • The responsibility for ensuring that research is subject to appropriate ethics review, approval and monitoring lies with the research organization seeking or holding an award with the ESRC and which employs the researchers performing it, or some of the researchers when it is acting as the co-ordinator for collaborative research involving more than one organization. • Research organizations should have clear, transparent, appropriate and effective procedures in place for ethics review, approval and governance whenever it is necessary. • Risks should be minimized. • Research should be designed in a way that the dignity and autonomy of research participants is protected and respected at all times. • Ethics review should always be proportionate to the potential risk, whether this involves primary or secondary data. • Whilst the secondary use of some datasets may be relatively uncontroversial, and require only light touch ethics review, novel use of existing data and especially data linkage, as well as some uses of administrative and secure data will raise issues of ethics. • Research involving primary data collection will always raise issues of ethics that must be addressed.
The information this workshop provided was eye opening. There is a lot you need to think about when talking about Ethics and Information Credibility. When doing research you need to be careful what you report about your observations or interviews. People can become very angry with your research depending on how you present the information. The student case study was a great example of that. They didn't think about the guys and how they would feel falling for a fake "person". Also you always need to look out for bias information, the internet is full of people saying whatever they want. The advantages/disadvantages slides are going to be very helpful when looking at sources on information.
Workshop Task:
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
a. The fact that anyone can join
b. Bias on what types of cars people like
c. Lack of expertise
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
Advantages: Public, more people to ask consent
Disadvantages: people will start to lie; more variables make it harder to know what is influencing what.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not?
Yes because there is no real level of expertise and anyone can join and comment. I can also see people coming up with fake names and being bias on the info they give.
The Ethics and Course credibility workshop was very informative. Growing up I would look at magazines and newspapers and think it was all real and if it was so public how could they lie. But boy am I wrong. As i got older and understood what was real and what was either made up or not true all together. This workshop really puts it in perspective what the advantages and disadvantages of information are real or untrue. Who would of though people lie just to get attention. Now a days I don't even watch the news because I dont believe anything on it unless it's the weather which I feel is pretty bad. Overall great concept behind this workshop.
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
-Self Esteem
-Unfair Treatment
-Lack of proper information
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting
informed consent in this situation?
Advantages- Certification and potential standards
Disadvantages- Factual Errors and misrepresentation
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not,
why not?
Yes their is a potential harm in such a study because people begin to misrepresent themselves with a false identity and false sources.
1. What are three potential ethics issues of this research? The potential ethical issues with this research are as follows: First, anyone can join raises questions about privacy. Second, how can you be objective in participant observation. Because participant observation is from an outside source usually. However, in this case you are part of the group. How can you be objective then? Third, will you be able to gain the trust of everyone, when do interviews with your subjects? I mean they know your opinions and views on cars. How will that work out?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantage of getting informed consent in this situation? Advantages: You have a big field of candidates, and data analysis should be easy. Also, you have a lot of background information there at hand. Disadvantages: Once again the objectivity, and honesty stigma. Will you get a true answer as if you were an independent field study?
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not? Yes, there are too many hazardous variables involved in this research; therefore I would not approve this if I were a college professor. You need to have more: confidentiality, staff, and constraints to reduce harm.
I found this workshop really interesting for a couple of reasons. First, ethics in today’s society has so much gray, and it is refreshing to see a clear, concise scientific approach towards it. Because usually ethics is discussed in a business class or a philosophy course, but here it is in qualitative methods in a communications course. Second, I enjoy how ethics and responsibility is pragmatic. Furthermore, I am sure each of us probably a few ethical decisions throughout our everyday life. And knowing how to handle certain situations is important for us to learn as we dive into the real world after graduation.
The Research Ethics and Information Credibility Workshop is extremely interesting and really makes you think twice before doing anything. I believe this workshop, especially the examples described within the workshop, is going to help me tremendously throughout this class with our research projects. The reading from this week talked about being friends with the people you do the research on, and this workshop covers that exactly. It is difficult when getting to know the participants and who you will conducting the research on, for you do not know what the outcome of your research will be before you have the time to actually do the research. I think informed consent is important because it allows the participants to view what the research process will consist of, leaving less reasons to complain. This workshop will help me be able to recognize and be cautious about the information and data I collect throughout the class. It is very easy to lie online and be someone who you are not, and that is very important to remember throughout the duration of this class. Thank you!
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
1) Anyone can arise questions of privacy
2) Lack of given information
3) Trust issues
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
- Advantage: very broad audience to gain information from
- Disadvantage: people may give out false/misleading answers
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not?
Yes, there is a potential harm in such a study because people don’t know if they can trust the source since it is open to anyone to join.
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
-Anyone can join the website
-Anyone can join and write whatever they want, meaning there is absolutely no sense of credibility of the information being given on the website (fake profiles?)
-What if the people don’t like the cars on the webpage, their bias may affect the opinions of others on the webpage.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
Advantages: Because anyone can join, there will be more people to ask for consent and a wider variety of responses and opinions to shape your research.
Disadvantage: People might start to say things to make themselves look better in front of others. There is no way of knowing what the truth is and what lies are. Also, it could waste time if the people do not take the site seriously.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not?
Definitely because some people use online sites to make themselves be someone who they really are not in reality – people might lie leading to others feeling bad about their lives, or themselves, which could also lead to cyber-bullying.
Workshop Task
1) What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
a. Voluntary participation. The group and listserv must be made aware of research being conducted on them.
b. Confidentiality/anonymity. the study could potentially be very easy to trace back to specific facebook pages which may be profiles of real people.
c.Researcher partiality must be made clear. In this case the researcher is already a part of the car group, so he/she is coming in with bias.
2) what are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
a. one advantage would be to avoid issues of deception with group members, and allowing them to opt-out at anytime should they not wish to have data on them published.
b. A disadvantage would then be potential misrepresentation to the researcher. this could skew results in favor of what the group thinks the researcher wants to hear.
Is there potential for harm in such a study?
Yes. Discovering participant identities is a danger because of the Facebook component.
1. Three potential ethical issues of research:
a) The researcher or the people taking part in the research having implicit or explicit agendas to further themselves.
b) Having bias
c) deciding if the area of study is a private or public space
2. Some advantages of getting informed consent to conduct your research is you will not have to worry about privacy issues. By getting consent you will also not have to worry about ethics and I its okay or not okay to present your findings (good or bad) because the people taking part in your study have given you permission to study them and present your findings. One major disadvantage you may encounter by getting consent is that the people taking part in your research may be come self-conscious about being a part of your study and in turn alter their actions and behavior. Their alterations can greatly affect your results.
3. Seeing that the study is on a local car club I do not see there being any harm done by doing this study unless the members of club behave badly or had bad intentions that would be exposed through the study. I also don't see any harm being done as the club is open to the public.
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
-Deception is an ethical issue of this research because they are using the car club friends to study how people represent themselves.
- Privacy is another issue because these facebook pages could be considered a private place that people would not want studied.
- No informed consent
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting
informed consent in this situation?
Advantages to getting informed consent would be that the information used would not be ethically wrong to use. The disadvantages to getting informed consent would be that people would misrepresent themselves as they do regularly because they know they are being studied.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not,
why not?
I thought the potential harms in this study would be that these people are deciving the people they want to study because they are using a car club to get access to what could be private information.
Research Ethics and Source Credibility is something that is very important and good to know before Professor Coopman's research papers. There are so many thing out there that one might think of as a good research project, but others think that it is horrible unethical,and most importantly know what a reliable source is highly needed in this class. This workshop does a good job showing different situations and having the activity and the end really helps me to process this information.
TASK
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
1) Do I announce that I am doing my research or do I just do it?
2)Even though anyone can join this group, do members on this sight have a sense of privacy
3) Do I need people consent for this
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting
informed consent in this situation?
The advantage of getting consent in this study is that people know you are watching them and there are things that may be published and they are agreeing to publishing that information
The disadvantage of getting their consent is that they may say no, and then what do you do, continue your study or stop? Also now that they know you are researching this group they may change their habits.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not,
why not?
There is potential harm in this study because information that you publish can discredit the car club or it can sever your relationship with the group.
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
a. Posting information that may be bias to someone’s opinions
b. Misguiding/deceiving information
c. Anyone has the ability to join, hack in the page or put harmful information
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
Advantage- There is a large fan base and the car club is receiving publicity by word of mouth. The club is constantly monitoring what they are publishing on their pages for the audience to blog. Disadvantage- People put false information, making fake profiles or blog false statements. Many people can be untrustworthy, mislead readers with dishonest integrity to believe something that is completely false.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not?
Yes! There is no way to find out who is credible and who is not. The fact that the pages are open for anyone, people can put false identification and information. These profiles impact the thoughts of others either it being positive or negative feedback being posted on the web. I would not make the pages public, making them private will give the car club the opportunity to be particular on who to add.
The Ethics and Source Credibility workshop did help me understand the good and the bad for credible and non-credible sources. There are many websites college students go to for information, some of them not being academically represented, like Wikipedia. Yes they give an overall insight of facts and data, yet anyone is able to post information. Although they do give credible sources at the end, Wikipedia itself is not an academic source to site on a research or college paper at that. The workshop gave a good emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages on information sources. This is a good way to check if a source is credible and is giving the proper information by checking its certifications, licensing or professionalism.
I am also shocked that the news or newspapers don’t give its viewers the full truth! The youtube video claims that anchors can “change their content” in others lie to the public by changing the story up. They give misleading information just to receive more publicity! The news is not forced to tell the truth BY LAW. So where does this leave us? I would think the news would be credible because they update us with weather, daily incidents, and shocking disasters. Their mission statements contradict one another!!!
Having this workshop at the beginning of the class prior to doing any research ourselves is fantastic. It gives us insight into how to correctly conduct research and avoid common research mistakes or problems. I also enjoyed this workshop because I have taken an entire course on ethics in communication on a more broad level and it is interesting to see how it directly applies to qualitative research. The slide that stood out the most to me and I felt was the most important was the "Social Scientific Process". I have a feeling that one particular slide is going to be quite important throughout this course.
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues?
There is an issue of privacy if the study is not conducted with informed consent. A researcher should not take information and report on it without having the consent of the people being researched and reported on.
Misinterpretation and misrepresentation are also potential ethical issues. From what we have been informed of about this study it seems to lack regulations and have high potential for dishonesty. This leaves lots of room for the researcher to misinterpret and then report incorrect information out to other people.
The final ethical issue that I see is the fact that the researcher is a part of the club of which the research would be conducted. "The independence of research must be clear, and any conflicts of interest or partiality must be explicit." I believe there would be a high conflict of interest being as the researcher and the participants have a common interest in this car club and therefor the researcher could easily be biased towards people similar to him/her; avoiding guilt by association.
3. Is there potential harm? If so, what?
Even though the goal within research is to avoid harm, in this study there is definite potential of harm because the test subjects are everyday people. Informed consent would help to avoid harm but, "the simple act of reporting what you see or quoting someone may cause harm...".
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
- people are free to speak their mind, the information will be bias.
- just about anyone can join and the post will be public, lack of privacy
- since anyone can join, anyone can also lie and provide misleading information
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting
informed consent in this situation?
Advantages: people will post their real thoughts and not write what they think the researcher is looking for
disadvantage: may cause people to censor their own posts.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not,
why not?
yes anyone can create a false identity or post comments that can degrade others on the site
I know that it is always best to provide informed consent to the people we research but I would assume that people will not be as open to freely express their opinions.
1. Three possible ethical issues is that despite it being and open Facebook and Google Group listserv, joining their club without really having interest is a form of deception and can bring hostility and unbalance harmony to the overall club members. Also, not being knowledgeable as the other club members could possibly damage the group’s reputation. Lastly, the researcher does not know what it entails to be in the club so for all they know, they might be putting themselves in danger.
2. The advantages of getting an informed consent is that the other club members would be aware of why you are participating in the club so there would not be any surprises or mixed emotions of why you are present. It can also bring a positive perspective to your research since they could possibly expose you to other elements of their club or express their true emotions or opinions that would not had been easily observed without them knowing. The disadvantages of getting an informed consent is that if could bring some type of hostility since you do not want to genuinely join their club and you would be observing as an outsider. Also, even if they consented to it, the club members would possibly act differently which would not provide good observational data for your study.
3. I believe there would not be any potential harm since it seems like a fairly open club to both observe and participate in. The interest revolving around the club is just cars and it does not seem like in any shape or form that it would provide any harm that would include emotional, physical, social financial.
Overall I found this workshop extremely informative because it brought in an array of perspectives that I myself would not had thought of. For instance, I would not ask myself if I was in their shoes if something I was doing was encroaching my privacy because I would more than likely be one sided about it and think it was no big deal (until one day I would be in their position). After reviewing this workshop, I feel that I would have more confidence going in to ethically conduct research. I know personally if I did cause unintentional harm, I would feel terribly and would probably never want to do research again! Now I know the basics on a moral foundation how to do so.
Holly Nelson:
Informed Consent: If people involved in the car club realize that you are doing a study, they may change their behavior in order to please the researcher, while making themselves look good. This can result in lying.
Bias: Some people in the car club may work for a particular automobile company and will thus promote the particular car they represent. Some of the club members may also chose one car over another car and thus will evade questions.
Involvement: The fact that anyone can join this group is a problem because the credibility isn't reliable. Some may join just to say they are involved and will have little to no knowledge on cars.
Advantages/Disadvantages: The advantages of the car club is the fact that it is group communication. You have a wide variety of people involved in the project and a lot of potential data to be collected with larger variables which would emphasize your credibility. You are also more likely to become involved with the car club culture, which would allow you to dissect more information. The disadvantages would be a matter of honesty and integrity. How would a researcher know if the facts they are receiving are true if there is no proof of credibility present?
3.) I believe there is potential harm in this study. Any time you are apart of a group or organization, relationships have the possibility to grow. In this example, if a researcher joins this car club and knows nothing about cars while another user wishes to meet the researcher and learns this fact, then that person will feel deceived.
I enjoyed this workshop because it made me realize the potential harm researching people can have on society. I never would have thought that something as simple as joining a car club could have detrimental effects in the long run. Although hard to swallow, it is essential to highlight that bias is everywhere and not all news sources can be trusted. A good example: wiki leaks "scandal".
What are three potential ethical issues with this research?
1. Bias
2. Credibility. Others might have their own agendas and potentially be doing research of their own.
3. Open. Lack of information credibility.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
Advantage: Anyone can ask to join. Avoiding spammers.
Disadvantage: False representation.
Is there potential harm in such a study?
Yes, there are no criteria/no screening process. High potential of lies.
3 potential ethical issues:
1) anyone can join
2) having anyone able to join brings up privacy for the groups members
3) people posting their opinions can show bias and sway other opinions
advantages/disadvantages:
advantage: people know that you are using their posted information in a study and it will be ethical
disadvantage: people might change the way they act because they know they are being studied
potential harm:
yes, because there is no way to really find out who is a credible source and who is not.
1) 3 potential ethical issues with this research?
-Anyone can join so their is a huge lack of privacy
-This site is public so their will be people who join who will say things that are not credible
-people can lie and/or be bias
2)Advantages of Consent?
-People know what is going on in the study and understand that some people will lie, be bias, and read their comments so they go into the study already expecting other people to try and manipulate the study
Disadvantages of Consent?
-People will change their behavior since they know that they are being studied so people will lie and say what they think the researchers will want to hear which leads to a lack of honesty
3)Potential Harm?
-There is always potential harm in research because you never know what will offend some people. The site is public so people can feel their is an invasion of privacy if they post comments. Anyone can join which means there will be people who are not credible, liars, and people on the site leaving comments that could possibly hurt others.
1. The people being studied may be at risk emotionally, socially, or financially.
2. Advantages of getting consent: it is the ethical thing to do and they will not be at risk emotionally, socially, etc.
Disadvantages of getting consent: their behavior will not be as genuine, and you will probably not get as much information. Plus some people may not let you observe them.
3. In my opinion, if any harm came from such a study, it would only come from the participants being observed without their knowledge or consent. Provided they are notified of the research and agree to it, I don’t see much harm that can come from it.
1. 3 potential ethical issues:
-Can you judge the information without bias? By examining people online you don't get their explanations for their behavior and you might misinterpret their actions based on bias.
-Privacy is an issue because you were not given informed consent to use their information in your research.
-The honesty of the users is also an ethical issue because you have a responsibility to the official record to come up with the most accurate information available.
2. Advantages/Disadvantages of informed consent
-Advantages are that you will not be plagiarizing or committing libel or slander because you explain the situation and you were given permission to use their information. You may also get a more credible study because the users will think more carefully about what they are saying.
-Disadvantages might be that users will manipulate their information to achieve the research results they desire.
3. There is always harm when examining information on the internet. People are not smart when posting information on the internet because they forget that their info is public. By putting their information into data it can bring attention to certain aspects of the users that they were not intending to make public.
You don't have permission to comment on this page.
Comments (25)
DeLayne said
at 9:19 pm on Aug 30, 2011
The information this workshop provided was eye opening. There is a lot you need to think about when talking about Ethics and Information Credibility. When doing research you need to be careful what you report about your observations or interviews. People can become very angry with your research depending on how you present the information. The student case study was a great example of that. They didn't think about the guys and how they would feel falling for a fake "person". Also you always need to look out for bias information, the internet is full of people saying whatever they want. The advantages/disadvantages slides are going to be very helpful when looking at sources on information.
Workshop Task:
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
a. The fact that anyone can join
b. Bias on what types of cars people like
c. Lack of expertise
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
Advantages: Public, more people to ask consent
Disadvantages: people will start to lie; more variables make it harder to know what is influencing what.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not?
Yes because there is no real level of expertise and anyone can join and comment. I can also see people coming up with fake names and being bias on the info they give.
Justine Cranford said
at 9:36 pm on Aug 30, 2011
The Ethics and Course credibility workshop was very informative. Growing up I would look at magazines and newspapers and think it was all real and if it was so public how could they lie. But boy am I wrong. As i got older and understood what was real and what was either made up or not true all together. This workshop really puts it in perspective what the advantages and disadvantages of information are real or untrue. Who would of though people lie just to get attention. Now a days I don't even watch the news because I dont believe anything on it unless it's the weather which I feel is pretty bad. Overall great concept behind this workshop.
Justine Cranford said
at 9:49 pm on Aug 30, 2011
Workshop Task:
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
-Self Esteem
-Unfair Treatment
-Lack of proper information
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting
informed consent in this situation?
Advantages- Certification and potential standards
Disadvantages- Factual Errors and misrepresentation
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not,
why not?
Yes their is a potential harm in such a study because people begin to misrepresent themselves with a false identity and false sources.
Chris Cadiz said
at 11:12 pm on Aug 30, 2011
Ethics and Source Credibility Workshop
1. What are three potential ethics issues of this research? The potential ethical issues with this research are as follows: First, anyone can join raises questions about privacy. Second, how can you be objective in participant observation. Because participant observation is from an outside source usually. However, in this case you are part of the group. How can you be objective then? Third, will you be able to gain the trust of everyone, when do interviews with your subjects? I mean they know your opinions and views on cars. How will that work out?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantage of getting informed consent in this situation? Advantages: You have a big field of candidates, and data analysis should be easy. Also, you have a lot of background information there at hand. Disadvantages: Once again the objectivity, and honesty stigma. Will you get a true answer as if you were an independent field study?
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not? Yes, there are too many hazardous variables involved in this research; therefore I would not approve this if I were a college professor. You need to have more: confidentiality, staff, and constraints to reduce harm.
I found this workshop really interesting for a couple of reasons. First, ethics in today’s society has so much gray, and it is refreshing to see a clear, concise scientific approach towards it. Because usually ethics is discussed in a business class or a philosophy course, but here it is in qualitative methods in a communications course. Second, I enjoy how ethics and responsibility is pragmatic. Furthermore, I am sure each of us probably a few ethical decisions throughout our everyday life. And knowing how to handle certain situations is important for us to learn as we dive into the real world after graduation.
Angela Santoro said
at 2:47 pm on Aug 31, 2011
The Research Ethics and Information Credibility Workshop is extremely interesting and really makes you think twice before doing anything. I believe this workshop, especially the examples described within the workshop, is going to help me tremendously throughout this class with our research projects. The reading from this week talked about being friends with the people you do the research on, and this workshop covers that exactly. It is difficult when getting to know the participants and who you will conducting the research on, for you do not know what the outcome of your research will be before you have the time to actually do the research. I think informed consent is important because it allows the participants to view what the research process will consist of, leaving less reasons to complain. This workshop will help me be able to recognize and be cautious about the information and data I collect throughout the class. It is very easy to lie online and be someone who you are not, and that is very important to remember throughout the duration of this class. Thank you!
Anny Wong said
at 2:47 pm on Aug 31, 2011
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
1) Anyone can arise questions of privacy
2) Lack of given information
3) Trust issues
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
- Advantage: very broad audience to gain information from
- Disadvantage: people may give out false/misleading answers
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not?
Yes, there is a potential harm in such a study because people don’t know if they can trust the source since it is open to anyone to join.
Angela Santoro said
at 2:48 pm on Aug 31, 2011
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
-Anyone can join the website
-Anyone can join and write whatever they want, meaning there is absolutely no sense of credibility of the information being given on the website (fake profiles?)
-What if the people don’t like the cars on the webpage, their bias may affect the opinions of others on the webpage.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
Advantages: Because anyone can join, there will be more people to ask for consent and a wider variety of responses and opinions to shape your research.
Disadvantage: People might start to say things to make themselves look better in front of others. There is no way of knowing what the truth is and what lies are. Also, it could waste time if the people do not take the site seriously.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not?
Definitely because some people use online sites to make themselves be someone who they really are not in reality – people might lie leading to others feeling bad about their lives, or themselves, which could also lead to cyber-bullying.
David Galan said
at 5:51 pm on Aug 31, 2011
Workshop Task
1) What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
a. Voluntary participation. The group and listserv must be made aware of research being conducted on them.
b. Confidentiality/anonymity. the study could potentially be very easy to trace back to specific facebook pages which may be profiles of real people.
c.Researcher partiality must be made clear. In this case the researcher is already a part of the car group, so he/she is coming in with bias.
2) what are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
a. one advantage would be to avoid issues of deception with group members, and allowing them to opt-out at anytime should they not wish to have data on them published.
b. A disadvantage would then be potential misrepresentation to the researcher. this could skew results in favor of what the group thinks the researcher wants to hear.
Is there potential for harm in such a study?
Yes. Discovering participant identities is a danger because of the Facebook component.
c.
ericadeguzman@yahoo.com said
at 7:33 pm on Aug 31, 2011
1. Three potential ethical issues of research:
a) The researcher or the people taking part in the research having implicit or explicit agendas to further themselves.
b) Having bias
c) deciding if the area of study is a private or public space
2. Some advantages of getting informed consent to conduct your research is you will not have to worry about privacy issues. By getting consent you will also not have to worry about ethics and I its okay or not okay to present your findings (good or bad) because the people taking part in your study have given you permission to study them and present your findings. One major disadvantage you may encounter by getting consent is that the people taking part in your research may be come self-conscious about being a part of your study and in turn alter their actions and behavior. Their alterations can greatly affect your results.
3. Seeing that the study is on a local car club I do not see there being any harm done by doing this study unless the members of club behave badly or had bad intentions that would be exposed through the study. I also don't see any harm being done as the club is open to the public.
Evan said
at 8:17 pm on Aug 31, 2011
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
-Deception is an ethical issue of this research because they are using the car club friends to study how people represent themselves.
- Privacy is another issue because these facebook pages could be considered a private place that people would not want studied.
- No informed consent
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting
informed consent in this situation?
Advantages to getting informed consent would be that the information used would not be ethically wrong to use. The disadvantages to getting informed consent would be that people would misrepresent themselves as they do regularly because they know they are being studied.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not,
why not?
I thought the potential harms in this study would be that these people are deciving the people they want to study because they are using a car club to get access to what could be private information.
Timothy D. Smith said
at 9:32 pm on Aug 31, 2011
Research Ethics and Source Credibility is something that is very important and good to know before Professor Coopman's research papers. There are so many thing out there that one might think of as a good research project, but others think that it is horrible unethical,and most importantly know what a reliable source is highly needed in this class. This workshop does a good job showing different situations and having the activity and the end really helps me to process this information.
TASK
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
1) Do I announce that I am doing my research or do I just do it?
2)Even though anyone can join this group, do members on this sight have a sense of privacy
3) Do I need people consent for this
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting
informed consent in this situation?
The advantage of getting consent in this study is that people know you are watching them and there are things that may be published and they are agreeing to publishing that information
The disadvantage of getting their consent is that they may say no, and then what do you do, continue your study or stop? Also now that they know you are researching this group they may change their habits.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not,
why not?
There is potential harm in this study because information that you publish can discredit the car club or it can sever your relationship with the group.
Carina Rodriguez said
at 9:45 pm on Aug 31, 2011
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
a. Posting information that may be bias to someone’s opinions
b. Misguiding/deceiving information
c. Anyone has the ability to join, hack in the page or put harmful information
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
Advantage- There is a large fan base and the car club is receiving publicity by word of mouth. The club is constantly monitoring what they are publishing on their pages for the audience to blog. Disadvantage- People put false information, making fake profiles or blog false statements. Many people can be untrustworthy, mislead readers with dishonest integrity to believe something that is completely false.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not, why not?
Yes! There is no way to find out who is credible and who is not. The fact that the pages are open for anyone, people can put false identification and information. These profiles impact the thoughts of others either it being positive or negative feedback being posted on the web. I would not make the pages public, making them private will give the car club the opportunity to be particular on who to add.
Carina Rodriguez said
at 9:53 pm on Aug 31, 2011
The Ethics and Source Credibility workshop did help me understand the good and the bad for credible and non-credible sources. There are many websites college students go to for information, some of them not being academically represented, like Wikipedia. Yes they give an overall insight of facts and data, yet anyone is able to post information. Although they do give credible sources at the end, Wikipedia itself is not an academic source to site on a research or college paper at that. The workshop gave a good emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages on information sources. This is a good way to check if a source is credible and is giving the proper information by checking its certifications, licensing or professionalism.
Carina Rodriguez said
at 10:01 pm on Aug 31, 2011
I am also shocked that the news or newspapers don’t give its viewers the full truth! The youtube video claims that anchors can “change their content” in others lie to the public by changing the story up. They give misleading information just to receive more publicity! The news is not forced to tell the truth BY LAW. So where does this leave us? I would think the news would be credible because they update us with weather, daily incidents, and shocking disasters. Their mission statements contradict one another!!!
Bree Charnett said
at 11:13 pm on Aug 31, 2011
Having this workshop at the beginning of the class prior to doing any research ourselves is fantastic. It gives us insight into how to correctly conduct research and avoid common research mistakes or problems. I also enjoyed this workshop because I have taken an entire course on ethics in communication on a more broad level and it is interesting to see how it directly applies to qualitative research. The slide that stood out the most to me and I felt was the most important was the "Social Scientific Process". I have a feeling that one particular slide is going to be quite important throughout this course.
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues?
There is an issue of privacy if the study is not conducted with informed consent. A researcher should not take information and report on it without having the consent of the people being researched and reported on.
Misinterpretation and misrepresentation are also potential ethical issues. From what we have been informed of about this study it seems to lack regulations and have high potential for dishonesty. This leaves lots of room for the researcher to misinterpret and then report incorrect information out to other people.
The final ethical issue that I see is the fact that the researcher is a part of the club of which the research would be conducted. "The independence of research must be clear, and any conflicts of interest or partiality must be explicit." I believe there would be a high conflict of interest being as the researcher and the participants have a common interest in this car club and therefor the researcher could easily be biased towards people similar to him/her; avoiding guilt by association.
3. Is there potential harm? If so, what?
Even though the goal within research is to avoid harm, in this study there is definite potential of harm because the test subjects are everyday people. Informed consent would help to avoid harm but, "the simple act of reporting what you see or quoting someone may cause harm...".
Elaine Alatorre said
at 1:03 am on Sep 1, 2011
1. What are 3 potential ethical issues of this research?
- people are free to speak their mind, the information will be bias.
- just about anyone can join and the post will be public, lack of privacy
- since anyone can join, anyone can also lie and provide misleading information
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting
informed consent in this situation?
Advantages: people will post their real thoughts and not write what they think the researcher is looking for
disadvantage: may cause people to censor their own posts.
3. Is there potential harm in such a study? If so what? If not,
why not?
yes anyone can create a false identity or post comments that can degrade others on the site
I know that it is always best to provide informed consent to the people we research but I would assume that people will not be as open to freely express their opinions.
marisa.smith.sjsu@gmail.com said
at 8:18 am on Sep 1, 2011
Questions to Ethical Workshop…
1. Three possible ethical issues is that despite it being and open Facebook and Google Group listserv, joining their club without really having interest is a form of deception and can bring hostility and unbalance harmony to the overall club members. Also, not being knowledgeable as the other club members could possibly damage the group’s reputation. Lastly, the researcher does not know what it entails to be in the club so for all they know, they might be putting themselves in danger.
2. The advantages of getting an informed consent is that the other club members would be aware of why you are participating in the club so there would not be any surprises or mixed emotions of why you are present. It can also bring a positive perspective to your research since they could possibly expose you to other elements of their club or express their true emotions or opinions that would not had been easily observed without them knowing. The disadvantages of getting an informed consent is that if could bring some type of hostility since you do not want to genuinely join their club and you would be observing as an outsider. Also, even if they consented to it, the club members would possibly act differently which would not provide good observational data for your study.
3. I believe there would not be any potential harm since it seems like a fairly open club to both observe and participate in. The interest revolving around the club is just cars and it does not seem like in any shape or form that it would provide any harm that would include emotional, physical, social financial.
marisa.smith.sjsu@gmail.com said
at 8:19 am on Sep 1, 2011
Additional comments about the workshop...
Overall I found this workshop extremely informative because it brought in an array of perspectives that I myself would not had thought of. For instance, I would not ask myself if I was in their shoes if something I was doing was encroaching my privacy because I would more than likely be one sided about it and think it was no big deal (until one day I would be in their position). After reviewing this workshop, I feel that I would have more confidence going in to ethically conduct research. I know personally if I did cause unintentional harm, I would feel terribly and would probably never want to do research again! Now I know the basics on a moral foundation how to do so.
Holly said
at 8:53 am on Sep 1, 2011
Holly Nelson:
Informed Consent: If people involved in the car club realize that you are doing a study, they may change their behavior in order to please the researcher, while making themselves look good. This can result in lying.
Bias: Some people in the car club may work for a particular automobile company and will thus promote the particular car they represent. Some of the club members may also chose one car over another car and thus will evade questions.
Involvement: The fact that anyone can join this group is a problem because the credibility isn't reliable. Some may join just to say they are involved and will have little to no knowledge on cars.
Advantages/Disadvantages: The advantages of the car club is the fact that it is group communication. You have a wide variety of people involved in the project and a lot of potential data to be collected with larger variables which would emphasize your credibility. You are also more likely to become involved with the car club culture, which would allow you to dissect more information. The disadvantages would be a matter of honesty and integrity. How would a researcher know if the facts they are receiving are true if there is no proof of credibility present?
3.) I believe there is potential harm in this study. Any time you are apart of a group or organization, relationships have the possibility to grow. In this example, if a researcher joins this car club and knows nothing about cars while another user wishes to meet the researcher and learns this fact, then that person will feel deceived.
I enjoyed this workshop because it made me realize the potential harm researching people can have on society. I never would have thought that something as simple as joining a car club could have detrimental effects in the long run. Although hard to swallow, it is essential to highlight that bias is everywhere and not all news sources can be trusted. A good example: wiki leaks "scandal".
Phuong said
at 9:34 am on Sep 1, 2011
Phuong said
at 9:39 am on Sep 1, 2011
What are three potential ethical issues with this research?
1. Bias
2. Credibility. Others might have their own agendas and potentially be doing research of their own.
3. Open. Lack of information credibility.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting informed consent in this situation?
Advantage: Anyone can ask to join. Avoiding spammers.
Disadvantage: False representation.
Is there potential harm in such a study?
Yes, there are no criteria/no screening process. High potential of lies.
valentina berry said
at 10:02 am on Sep 1, 2011
3 potential ethical issues:
1) anyone can join
2) having anyone able to join brings up privacy for the groups members
3) people posting their opinions can show bias and sway other opinions
advantages/disadvantages:
advantage: people know that you are using their posted information in a study and it will be ethical
disadvantage: people might change the way they act because they know they are being studied
potential harm:
yes, because there is no way to really find out who is a credible source and who is not.
matt.collins209@... said
at 10:33 am on Sep 1, 2011
1) 3 potential ethical issues with this research?
-Anyone can join so their is a huge lack of privacy
-This site is public so their will be people who join who will say things that are not credible
-people can lie and/or be bias
2)Advantages of Consent?
-People know what is going on in the study and understand that some people will lie, be bias, and read their comments so they go into the study already expecting other people to try and manipulate the study
Disadvantages of Consent?
-People will change their behavior since they know that they are being studied so people will lie and say what they think the researchers will want to hear which leads to a lack of honesty
3)Potential Harm?
-There is always potential harm in research because you never know what will offend some people. The site is public so people can feel their is an invasion of privacy if they post comments. Anyone can join which means there will be people who are not credible, liars, and people on the site leaving comments that could possibly hurt others.
Bilal Elsakka said
at 11:47 am on Sep 1, 2011
1. The people being studied may be at risk emotionally, socially, or financially.
2. Advantages of getting consent: it is the ethical thing to do and they will not be at risk emotionally, socially, etc.
Disadvantages of getting consent: their behavior will not be as genuine, and you will probably not get as much information. Plus some people may not let you observe them.
3. In my opinion, if any harm came from such a study, it would only come from the participants being observed without their knowledge or consent. Provided they are notified of the research and agree to it, I don’t see much harm that can come from it.
JT Martin said
at 10:45 pm on Sep 6, 2011
1. 3 potential ethical issues:
-Can you judge the information without bias? By examining people online you don't get their explanations for their behavior and you might misinterpret their actions based on bias.
-Privacy is an issue because you were not given informed consent to use their information in your research.
-The honesty of the users is also an ethical issue because you have a responsibility to the official record to come up with the most accurate information available.
2. Advantages/Disadvantages of informed consent
-Advantages are that you will not be plagiarizing or committing libel or slander because you explain the situation and you were given permission to use their information. You may also get a more credible study because the users will think more carefully about what they are saying.
-Disadvantages might be that users will manipulate their information to achieve the research results they desire.
3. There is always harm when examining information on the internet. People are not smart when posting information on the internet because they forget that their info is public. By putting their information into data it can bring attention to certain aspects of the users that they were not intending to make public.
You don't have permission to comment on this page.