Jim Couch states:
>One faculty member, who teaches a
>course where this requirement would be in place, contends that having
>subjects participate in research, even with the alternative, is not ethical.
We provide 3 additions to the standard subject pool that help with this
issue.
1) The ethical issue is often phrased as whether or not participation is
educational. We patterned our pool on one in use at U. of Pittsburgh.
After ethical review by the department committee, all studies are reviewed
by the director of the pool for their _educational_ value. I look for both
the interest value to the student (in intro and debriefing) and for an
educational handout that the experimenter provides at the end of the study
with an explanation of the study and additional reading. The handout is
required, but its quality is monitored by the director of the pool.
2) Subjects get a receipt (with one paperless carbon copy) that they then
turn in for credit. The copy the keep in case something goes wrong and we
miss their credit. The reciept contains a series of questions we ask them
to respond to:
a) Were you treated with respect and courtesy? If not, then
please describe what happened.
b) Was participating in this research project a learning
experience for you? Why or why not?
c) Did anything about the research project disturb you?
If so, then please describe what it was.
d) Did you receive both a written and oral explanation of the
research project?
e) In a few sentences, what was the major purpose or goal of
this research project? Remember, you must answer this question
to receive credit.
questions a,c,d allow us to track the performance of experimenters in their
ethical responsibility to the student. We contact experimenters
immediately if anything goes wrong. Question b & e allow us to assess if
the experience actually was educational (primarily students say yes). We
also ask questions b & e on the alternative project reciept (this requires
looking at one of 20 videos and writing a _short_ response).
3) We tell students that they can sign up in the main psych office if they
do not want to particpate in studies that involve deception or stress
beyond the normal classroom experience. We then notify these students by
postcard when a study free of these things is posted. Between 0 & 5 (out
of 150-200) student sign up for this. This means those who do not are
giving their implicit permission for deception (as long as they are
debriefed at the end of the study).
-CHuck
- Chuck Huff; 507.646.3169; http://www.stolaf.edu/people/huff/
- Psychology Department, St.Olaf College, Northfield, MN 55057
