Grace Kelly

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An Introduction to Research Ethics at
Western Ethics Considerations for Teachers
Research with Students in their own Classroom

• Grace Kelly
• Ethics Officer
• Office of Research Ethics
• The University of Western Ontario
• grace.kelly_at_uwo.ca x84692

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Guiding Principles ofResearch Ethics
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Policy Framework

• Nuremberg Code, 1949 (end of 2nd world war)
• Declaration of Helsinki, 1964 cornerstone
  document of human research ethics.
• Belmont Report, 1979
• PHIPA section 44 -disclosure for research/REB

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TCPS

• Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS)
• Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans,
  1998
• -Federal Granting Agencies SSHRC CIHR NSERC
• -Funding is only given to individuals at
  institutions that comply with this policy

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TCPS
Core Principles Welfare (assess risks and
benefits) Autonomy and Decision Making
(informed consent and voluntary
participation) Equal Moral Status of All
(inclusive, everyone treated the same)
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How does the TCPS fit into the ORE?

• Based on the Core Principles of the TCPS the
  OREs main goals are as follows
• Protection of human subjects
• Assess risks and benefits
• Assess research design to ensure minimal risk and
  meet objectives
• Review subject recruitment to ensure informed
  consent
• Protect vulnerable groups of individuals

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What Research Goes Where?
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Research Ethics at Western
UWO Faculty, Staff and Students institutions
UWO is the Board of Record for all London
Hospitals
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Assessment of Risk

• Greater scrutiny and expertise required for
  research that is potentially more invasive or
  harmful
• REB is responsible for assessing magnitude and
  probability of potential harms and benefits

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When Do You Need to Apply?
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ALL research involving human subjects and their
data must be reviewed by a UWO REB. This
includes all research conducted on campus by UWO
Faculty, Staff and Students Research conducted on
campus.
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Determining if REB Review is Necessary can be
Tricky!

• You wish to conduct a study of the ways in which
  space and resources are used in the Library
• Goal 1 to improve service, see what areas are
  used, how could physical space be improved?
• Goal 2 to interview students and staff to
  understand their perceptions of the library, how
  important access to materials is to their work,
  what their demographics are, etc.

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• If youre not sure, please ask.
• Everyones research is different and unique.

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• If my research requires REB approval
• Factor time in as part of research process
• Back and forth process with the ORE and REB.
• Are you the PI of a study? Using UWO staff,
  faculty, students or facilities.

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How does the Board Review my Research
Proposal?(From the Guiding Principles)
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What the REB Reviews

• UWO Research Submission (HSREB or NMREB)
• Objectives, rationale, hypotheses
• Methods, including surveys/instruments
• Participants
• Confidentiality
• Letter of Information Consent
• Scripts Advertisements

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The REB also Reviews

• Any item used to solicit participation in a
  study including
• Telephone scripts
• Recruitment scripts (for on-the-spot surveys)
• Cover letters
• Email messages
• Follow-up/reminder notices (a la Dillman Method)

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AdditionallyThe REB Reviews

• All Revisions to already approved research
• FYIs
• Adverse Events
• Updated Approvals
• Protocol Violations
• Protocol Deviations

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Sound Methodology

• Have you provided support, in the form of
  references for your current research question?
• Sample size? Does it work?
• Are human participants really necessary to answer
  the question?
• Clear explanation of steps also to letter of
  information
• Do the benefits of the research outweigh the
  risks?

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Coercion or Inducements to Participate

• overwhelmed by institutional approval
• fear of loss of health benefits, employment or
  educational status
• obligation to participate
• financial gain

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Privacy Confidentiality Issues

• Privacy and confidentiality are recognized as
  fundamental human rights.
• What counts as loss of privacy may vary from
  individual to individual and society to society.

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What Constitutes Identifiers?

• Name, initials
• Date of birth or death (partial)
• Initials and DOB together
• PINs, OHIP numbers, SIN, others
• Postal code
• Mapping of data

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Assessing Identifiability Risk

• Identifying information identifies a specific
  research participant directly (e.g., name,
  address, SIN or PIN)
• Identifiable information could be used to
  re-identify a participant through a combination
  of indirect
• De-identified/coded information Identifiers are
  removed/replaced with a code. Those with access
  to the code and the data (or those working
  directly with those with the code) have
  identifiable information.
• Anonymized information Information is
  irrevocably stripped of identifiers, and a code
  is not kept
• Anonymous information Information never had
  identifiers

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If I need REB Review, do I also always need to
obtain consent?
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Waiver of Consent

• Principle of Beneficence
• Sheer size
• Proportion of individuals relocated or died
• Creation of privacy risk by linking ID to
  de-identified data
• Risk of psychological, social or other harm
• Difficulty in contacting individuals
• Identifiability

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Waiver of Consent

• Not to be confused with other forms of consent.
• Explicit Consent (eg. Completion of Survey)
• Explicit Verbal Consent (eg. Telephone Survey)
• Passive Consent (Opt-Out)
• Previous Consent
• You still need a Letter of Information or script
  for these forms of consent.

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Informed Consent

• Subjects must be told exactly what is going to
  happen to them
• Subjects must agree to participate
• Letter of Information
• Consent Form
• Assent Form

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Informed Consent Guidance

• HSREB NMREB GUIDELINES
• http//www.uwo.ca/research/ethics/

• Required Wording
• Letter explains clearly the study methods
• What will be done with the data
• Participant confidentiality/anonymity
• Participant contact information
• Grammar Spelling

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Teachers Research with Students in their own
Classroom

• The main issue that exists when a teacher wants
  to conduct research in their own classroom is the
  power relationship that exists between a teacher
  and her/his own students and even further the
  issue of coercion.
• However..

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Teachers Research with Students in their own
Classroom

• with proper planning and consideration a teacher
  may be able to use the students within his/her
  own class as study participants provided (s)he is
  able to avoid both the reality and appearance of
  coercion and coercion itself.

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Step 1

• When thinking about your research, distinguish
  between activities that constitute research and
  those that fall under professional development.
  
• Look back at our examples of whether or not
  ethics is needed.
• If not publishing and only examining the
  teachers pedagogical practices then no ethics is
  needed.
• If publishing best to get ethics approval

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Step 2

• Decide how you will avoid both the reality and
  perception of coercion
• A potential risk in these studies is being
  coerced into participating in a study in which
  one does not want to participate.
• (eg. Parents or students feel obligated to
  participate to avoid offending teacher or so that
  the childs marks are not affected).

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Step 3

• Create a plausible plan for avoiding coercion in
  your submissions.
• Alternatives forms of data collection should be
  made to avoid coercion.
• Anonymous online questionnaire
• Study students in a different classroom
• Use another researcher to do the research for you
  (3rd party) they collect consent and keep
  results until final grades submitted, therefore
  teacher doesnt know who participated and cant
  base grades on that

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Summary

• Careful consideration must be taken to avoid any
  undue influence on the participant which will
  undermine the voluntary character of the consent.
  
• Where possible, the approach to the participant
  inviting to participation in a research project
  should be made by someone not in a position of
  authority over the subject.

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Summary

• Students must be assured that withdrawal will not
  result in any academic penalty.
• Similarly students should not be promised
  academic reward.