Introduction
The protection of participants when conducting research is one of the highest priorities of the academic and scientific community. For instance, the major regulations of human participants’ rights are regularly revisited based on the most recent research (Shrestha & Dunn, 2020). To ensure the ethical protection of the participant of this study, I will follow the guidelines in the Belmont Report and the IBR Walden protocol.
Discussion
Researchers admit that the institutional review board’s (IRB) approval can lead to certain delays that can potentially have undesirable effects on their research, as some studies can be time-sensitive (Reiner Benaim et al., 2020). However, it is also acknowledged that conducting research without this approval is impossible because it can lead to violations of human participants’ rights and detrimental effects on participants, the researcher, and the study. The IRB has evidence-based data to ensure the implementation of ethical research, so researchers should follow the recommendations provided by the board (Quenneville & Schwartz-Mette, 2020). Compliance with the existing standards and regulations advances scientific and academic inquiry.
In the consent form (see Appendix A), I will inform the potential participants of the nature of the proposed study and that written consent is needed to participate in the study. Participation in this study is voluntary, and financial compensation will not be offended in exchange for their participation. The participant’s right to withdraw from the study at any point and without naming reasons has been questioned by some researchers as it hurts findings limiting their reliability (Fernandez Lynch, 2020). However, humans’ right to autonomy cannot be ignored, and an effective solution to avoiding withdrawal is the creation of a detailed and properly formatted written consent that will be instrumental in preparing participants for any unexpected outcomes. Participants that choose to withdraw from the study can notify the researcher at any time to discontinue participation.
Conclusion
Researchers are completely responsible for the ethical implementation of their research and are obliged to protect their participants, including their sensitive data, their health, and their safety during and in some cases after the termination of their study (Bhatia-Lin et al., 2019). To protect the participants’ identities, I will use an unidentifiable coding system. The utilization of an alphanumeric identifier aimed at tracking participants’ information and maintaining their anonymity is an effective tool widely employed, but researchers should ensure its proper use and prevent any data disclosure (Bird, 2022). I will encrypt the collected data onto a flash drive with a password and store it in a fireproof safe. After 5 years, I will destroy all collected data.
References
Bhatia-Lin, A., Boon-Dooley, A., Roberts, M. K., Pronai, C., Fisher, D., & Parker, L., Engstrom, A., Ingraham, L., Darnell, D. (2019). Ethical and regulatory considerations for using social media platforms to locate and track research participants. The American Journal of Bioethics, 19(6), 47-61.
Bird, S. M. (2022). Medical research, data sharing, and properly informed consent. Significance, 19(1), 4-5.
Chenneville, T., & Schwartz-Mette, R. (2020). Ethical considerations for psychologists in the time of COVID-19. American Psychologist, 75(5), 644-654.
Fernandez Lynch, H. (2020). The right to withdraw from controlled human infection studies: Justifications and avoidance. Bioethics, 34(8), 833-848.
Reiner Benaim, A., Almog, R., Gorelik, Y., Hochberg, I., Nassar, L., Mashiach, T., Khamaisi, M., Lurie, Y., Azzam, Z. S., Khoury, J., Kurnik, D., & Beyar, R. (2020). Analyzing medical research results based on synthetic data and their relation to real data results: Systematic comparison from five observational studies. JMIR Medical Informatics, 8(2), 1-14.
Shrestha, B., & Dunn, L. (2020). The declaration of Helsinki on medical research involving human subjects: A review of seventh revision. Journal of Nepal Health Research Council, 17(4), 548-552.