A researcher at a Canadian institution eligible to receive Agency funding wishes to determine the frequency of cannabis consumption among high school students in Canada. The researcher will create a website that includes a secure link to a survey for students wishing to participate in the research. For scientific reasons, only students who have already used cannabis will be invited to participate and respond anonymously to the survey (please answer all questions by YES or NO).The researcher proposes to ask teachers to inform their students that the study exists, and to tell them where they can access the link to the survey, in case they wish to complete it, at home or anywhere outside the classroom. The schoolboard has approved the proposal, the teachers are not members of the research team and the context is not likely to exercise coercive pressure on students to participate in the study. Is the proposal ethically acceptable?
Question
A researcher at a Canadian institution eligible to receive Agency funding wishes to determine the frequency of cannabis consumption among high school students in Canada. The researcher will create a website that includes a secure link to a survey for students wishing to participate in the research. For scientific reasons, only students who have already used cannabis will be invited to participate and respond anonymously to the survey (please answer all questions by YES or NO).The researcher proposes to ask teachers to inform their students that the study exists, and to tell them where they can access the link to the survey, in case they wish to complete it, at home or anywhere outside the classroom. The schoolboard has approved the proposal, the teachers are not members of the research team and the context is not likely to exercise coercive pressure on students to participate in the study. Is the proposal ethically acceptable?
Solution
Based on the information provided, the proposal appears to be ethically acceptable. Here are the reasons:
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Informed Consent: The researcher plans to invite only students who have already used cannabis to participate in the survey. By doing so, the researcher ensures that the participants are aware of the topic and have personal experience with it. This approach respects the principle of informed consent.
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Anonymity: The survey will be conducted anonymously, with participants responding only with "YES" or "NO" to maintain their privacy. This protects the confidentiality of the participants and reduces the risk of potential harm or stigma associated with their responses.
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Voluntary Participation: The researcher intends to inform students about the study through teachers, but the decision to participate is entirely up to the students. The teachers are not members of the research team, and there is no indication of coercive pressure being exerted on the students. This ensures that participation is voluntary and not influenced by external factors.
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Schoolboard Approval: The fact that the schoolboard has approved the proposal suggests that it has been reviewed and deemed acceptable from an ethical standpoint. This adds credibility to the researcher's approach.
Overall, the proposal appears to prioritize ethical considerations such as informed consent, anonymity, and voluntary participation. However, it is important to note that ethical considerations may vary across different cultural and institutional contexts.
Similar Questions
A researcher at a Canadian institution eligible to receive Agency funding wishes to determine the frequency of cannabis consumption among high school students in Canada. The researcher will create a website that includes a secure link to a survey for students wishing to participate in the research. For scientific reasons, only students who have already used cannabis will be invited to participate and respond anonymously to the survey (please answer all questions by YES or NO).The researcher believes that some of the high school students who will respond to the survey may come from an Indigenous community. However, the researcher does not intend to make Indigeneity an element of their analysis of the findings. Moreover, it will not be possible for the researcher to know which participants are from Indigenous communities, because the survey does not include socio-demographic questions that would allow such description. In this case, is the researcher required to do community engagement?
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A researcher at a Canadian institution eligible to receive Agency funding wishes to determine the frequency of cannabis consumption among high school students in Canada. The researcher will create a website that includes a secure link to a survey for students wishing to participate in the research. For scientific reasons, only students who have already used cannabis will be invited to participate and respond anonymously to the survey (please answer all questions by YES or NO).The researcher wishes to compare the frequency of cannabis consumption depending on the sex and gender of the students. Is such an analysis ethically acceptable? No Yes
The researcher proposes to ask teachers to inform their students that the study exists, and to tell them where they can access the link to the survey, in case they wish to complete it, at home or anywhere outside the classroom. The schoolboard has approved the proposal, the teachers are not members of the research team and the context is not likely to exercise coercive pressure on students to participate in the study. Is the proposal ethically acceptable?
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