Students as research subjects: Ethical and educational issues

Abstract

This paper evaluates the ethical and educational questions provoked by student participation in psychological research as a course requirement. Both conceptual arguments and empirical evidence are presented in favour of the practice's educational value, and the author argues that a preoccupation with “coercion” is misguided, given the comparability of participation with other equally coercive course expectations such as attendance, essays, and exams. The argument regarding “experimenter gain” is also placed in an educational context, and the mutually beneficial nature of interaction between students and academics is emphasised. The current Australian Psychological Society's (1994) guidelines for the ethical conduct of research are also discussed from an educational perspective: the lack of clarity surrounding the ethics of student participation in experiments is identified, and the need for clarification is suggested. Methods for improving the educational value of participation are discussed, and integration with coursework, debriefing, and feedback are suggested as pedagogical tools. Final comments touch on the wider context of student participation in research beyond “subject pools”, historical changes in participation practices, and the need for accurate and uncomplicated language in communication with student subjects.

An Invitation for Medical Educators to Focus on Ethical and Policy Issues in Research and Scholarly Practice

“…For instance, when a clerkship director asks students to be volunteers in an assessment of a new, experimental internal medicine curriculum, the students may be concerned about their evaluations if they refuse. 28 Such students may feel coerced, even when no pressure is intended. For education research that involves retrospective use of existing data sets, many students may not understand that sensitive demographic information (e.g., loan indebtedness, health information) gathered by the institution may be used for projects.…”

“…In both prospective and retrospective research endeavors, students' perceptions of the risk-to-benefit ratio of a project may be very different from that of faculty who are investigators or IRB members. 28 Consequently, consent disclosure and institutional review processes may be adequate from a regulatory perspective but insufficient from the individual participant's viewpoint. Additional considerations relate to inappropriate use of convenience populations of students for research that might be better performed with other, less potentially vulnerable groups and to the appropriate use of incentives for students' participation.…”

“…18 Conscientious efforts to instruct and give greater voice to students as participants may help facilitate ethically acceptable research as standards evolve and become more rigorous in the future. 28…”

Heavy Episodic Drinking Among University Students: Drinking Status and Perceived Normative Comparisons

“…The student research participation scheme that was utilized as part of this study is not a requirement and students have the option to complete an alternative task for course credit (e.g., article reviews). Concerns about coercion and the educational value of research participation by students has been elaborated and critically reviewed elsewhere and the interested reader is referred toDalziel (1996).…”

Evaluation of A Nursing Student Group's Attitudes and Awareness About Professional Research and Developments

“…22 Yapılan diğer çalışmalarda, hemşirelik öğrencilerinin bilimsel araştırmalara katılımının, öğrencilerin araştırma kullanımına yönelik tutum ve farkındalıklarını artırdığı ve araştırma sürecinin anlaşılmasını kolaylaştırdığı sonucuna varılmıştır. 17,20,21,23,24 Çalışmada hemşirelik öğrencilerinin araştırma farkındalığı ve tutum puanları ile mezuniyet sonrası çalışmak istenilen pozisyon değişkeninin ilişkisi incelendiğinde, mezuniyet sonrası akademisyen ve yönetici hemşire olarak çalışmak istediklerini ifade eden öğrencilerin ölçek puanlarının, klinik hemşiresi olarak çalışmak isteyen öğrencilerden yüksek olduğu belirlenmiştir. Elde edilen bu bulgu çalışmanın "H 1 :Öğrencilerin mezuniyet sonrası çalışmak istedikleri pozisyona göre mesleki araştırma ve gelişmelere yönelik farkındalık ve tutumları farklıdır" hipotezini doğrulamaktadır.…”