I agree with the first part of Paul Smith's comment that relying on
"intent" (or "function" as someone else suggested and which I think is a
better term for what I meant) creates a slippery slope. But I think we are
okay as long as we don't take the position that seeing them as "students"
instead of "participants" means that we can disregard concerns for their
privacy and welfare and conduct unethical and/or improper classroom
demonstrations.
The second part of his comment brings up an even thornier issue - what
about when the students in the class are taking on the role of
investigator and collecting data from others (and in Paul's case, minors).
On the one hand, I don't want to see IRB approval needed for the kinds of
"research" that students do in their experimental methods class. But on
the other, we must ensure that such "research" does not violate ethical
standards (and I don't see how any research, even just for a class
project, can be conducted that involves minors without parental approval).
Vinny
Vincent Prohaska
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Psychology
Lehman College
Bronx, NY 10468-1589
718-960-8776
718-960-8092 fax
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
