Internet research and informed consent: An ethical model for using archived emails

Abstract

Ethical conduct involving research participants rests on the Belmont principles of autonomy, beneficence and justice. Novel methods present new challenges in safeguarding these principles. The increasing use of data obtained from the internet in health research raises important questions regarding obligations to people posting personal information online. Ethical issues warrant special consideration since guidelines are only beginning to emerge, placing greater onus on the researcher’s discretion. This paper presents a model (a synthesis of the work of Eysenbach and Till (2001) and Kraut et al (2004)) to assist in decision-making regarding obtaining or waiving informed consent when using archived emails from websites. For illustrative purposes, the application of the model to a PhD project is described.

Female Gamers’ Experience of Online Harassment and Social Support in Online Gaming: A Qualitative Study

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Ethical considerations in the study of online illness narratives: a qualitative review

“…In light of the complexity of the ethical issues considered, they recommended explicit discussion of researchers’ ethical decision‐making process in proposals, and called for the creation of more structured guidelines (Eysenbach & Till 2001). Watson et al. (2007) organized the concepts identified by Eysenbach and Till (2001) into a useful 8‐step algorithm to help prioritize research decision‐making.…”

Public domain or private data? Developing an ethical approach to social media research in an inter-disciplinary project

“…It seems clear that there are no "one-size-fits-all" guidelines available to inform an ethical approach to internet-mediated research, and it would be unrealistic to expect this from any one set of guidelines (Watson et al, 2007). Instead, research of an online nature demands the use of standard guidelines for ethical practice in conjunction with recommendations specifically for online research (Jones, 2011).…”

“…Watson, Jones, and Burns (2007) suggest that it is impractical to suppose any single set of guidelines could address all ethical issues concerning online research, due to the diversity of online spaces. Hair and Clark (2007) state that what might be considered as ethical research conduct in one online community might not be considered as ethical in others.…”

“…However, at the time this research was being undertaken, the most recent Code of Ethics and Conduct was the 2009 edition (BPS, 2009 (BPS, 2011) informed the ethical conduct of the current study, as they offered the most appropriate and direct advice on tackling research of this nature. It was recognised that consulting various sources of guidance would contribute to informing an ethical online study (Watson et al, 2007). At the time the project was undertaken, the BPS (2007) guidelines represented the most up-to-date guidance that was provided by the BPS, as the revised guidelines (BPS, 2013) that we refer to later in this paper had not yet been published.…”