Discussion Replies: Ethical standards when conducting internet research

Ethical standards when conducting internet research: Some ethical standards to remember when conducting internet research are privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity (Hokke et al., 2018). Anonymity implies that study subjects should be selected fairly, and so this principle is crucial since it prevents the exploitation of vulnerable groups and selection bias, which could be launched by the researcher. Anonymity also assures that the researcher does not favor one group over another when performing the investigation.

Participant privacy entails protecting the privacy of human subjects engaging in research and ensuring that their personal information is kept private. Maintaining the privacy of human subjects and their information, in essence, reduces the risk of deductive closure. Furthermore, study participants must be assured that their information will not be accessible to other online researchers without their consent, and if this occurs, the individuals must offer consent.

Confidentiality signifies that the researcher must honor the agreements made with the human subjects, and that any information supplied with the researchers must not be disclosed with outsiders. Essentially, this assures that the personal information of research participants is not made public. Another ethical difficulty in internet research is consent. To protect the confidentiality and privacy of human subjects, researchers may choose to use identifiers other than the participants’ real names. To avoid unwanted access, information about human subjects should be stored safely and securely, preferably in encrypted computer systems (Bender et al., 2017).

Furthermore, before engaging in any research, online researchers must acquire the agreement of human subjects. To secure the agreement of research participants, researchers should explain what the research comprises and how they will protect them and their information. So far, I have learned more about my topic, and as a result, I will update the previous literature review. This is necessary to support the information presented in the review.

References

Bender, J. L., Cyr, A. B., Arbuckle, L., & Ferris, L. E. (2017). Ethics and privacy implications of using the internet and social media to recruit participants for health research: a privacy-by-design framework for online recruitment. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(4), e7029.

Hokke, S., Hackworth, N. J., Quin, N., Bennetts, S. K., Wen, H. Y., Nicholson, J. M., … & Crawford, S. B. (2018). Ethical issues in using the internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review. PloS one, 13(9), e0204572.

Some ethical issues to keep in my when using internet-based research are anonymity, confidentiality, dignity, protection, safety, and informed consent. My sample group is small, and I did not plan on using internet-based research such as online surveys to gather my data. I am planning on using a traditional paper survey.

To ensure my research is conducted ethically, I will be open and honest with the participants and make sure they clearly know that their protection is first and foremost important. I will make sure to maintain anonymity and confidentiality for the participants. I will make sure to provide a comprehensive explanation of the purpose of this study, providing informed consent

Sugiura, L., Wiles, R., & Pope, C. (2017). Ethical challenges in online research: Public/private perceptions. Research Ethics, 13(3–4), 184–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747016116650720

Tappen, R. M. (2015). Advanced Nursing Research (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781284132496

The examination of non-numerical data such as opinions, concepts, and experiences is part of qualitative research. It is widely used in social sciences, notably in the investigation of social interactions, processes, and systems. Qualitative researchers have made significant contributions to health services and policy research, providing critical insights into how people perceive health and illness, patients’ views, interprofessional team dynamics, and a variety of other aspects of care delivery (Arifin, 2018).

Clinical nurse specialists can obtain an understanding of specific patient populations’ behaviors, needs, and experiences by doing qualitative research. For example, an obstetrics central nurse specialist who learns about the etiologies of prenatal noncompliance behavior by reviewing qualitative research findings enriches themselves with adequate and reliable information to assist them in developing etiology nursing interventions specific to mothers experiencing such issues rather than relying on more general interventions to improve adherence to treatment protocols.

Furthermore, qualitative findings have been demonstrated to be effective in driving fundamental changes in therapeutic communication strategies. Qualitative scholars, for example, have suggested that active listening, appraisal, education, and social support be included in communication between care professionals, patients, and families.

Researchers may face major hurdles when doing qualitative research. Inconsistency is one of the ethical difficulties in qualitative research. Inconsistencies are widespread in qualitative research because this sort of research involves non-measurable data; therefore, when interpreting qualitative data, researchers must keep this in mind. Human subject confidentiality is also an ethical consideration in qualitative research.

While conducting qualitative research, researchers must maintain the confidentiality of the human subjects involved; thus, strict criteria in this sort of study are required to reduce any potential ethical concerns that may occur (Mohajan, 2018). Qualitative researchers must also examine the ethical concept of no harm in order to prevent causing harm to human research participants.

References

Arifin, S. R. M. (2018). Ethical considerations in qualitative study. International Journal of Care Scholars, 1(2), 30-33.

Mohajan, H. K. (2018). Qualitative research methodology in social sciences and related subjects. Journal of Economic Development, Environment, and People, 7(1), 23-48.

The value of qualitative research is that qualitative research is inductive, and the research takes place in natural settings. The goal is to capture the insider’s perspective and not the outsider’s perspective (Tappen, R.M., 2015). The uniqueness of each person is recognized. Ethical considerations related to qualitative research are anonymity, confidentiality, and informed consent. Respect for privacy, open and honest interactions, and avoiding misrepresentations are also important considerations because qualitative research uses words instead of numbers to explain phenomena.

Sanjari, M., Bahramnezhad, F., Fomani, F. K., Shoghi, M., & Cheraghi, M. A. (2014). Ethical challenges of researchers in qualitative studies: the necessity to develop a specific guideline. Journal of medical ethics and history of medicine, 7, 14.

Tappen, R. M. (2015). Advanced Nursing Research (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781284132496