RE” SOCW6301 Discussion 2 (WK2) Response to 1 Student

Respond to a colleague’s post in one of the following ways:

1. Expand upon your colleague’s post regarding ways that the IRB’s ethical guidelines may impact his or her study.
2. Explain an insight you gained from this week’s Resources that addresses a topic in your colleague’s post.

Christie Response to Question

A description of two ways the guidelines in Walden University’s IRB document may impact the selection of a research population, research setting, and/or research design.

Walden University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) can impact many of the variables within a research study. The IRB guidelines were established to protect human research participants (Yegidis, Weinback, & Myers, 2012). This procedure ensures that researchers/student are not exploiting vulnerable populations or are failing to consider cultural diversity within the participant pool. Walden’s IRB uncovers unforeseen conflicts of interest and is a safety measure so that the study benefits outweigh risks. This could mean that research does not take place in prisons, or evaluating peers. Also, the university’s IRB could affect research design. For example, including how data is gathered which informs the board ensuring confidentially will not be breached and beneficence is in place (Walden University, n.d.). For instance, all instruments, interactions, interventions must be known so that any inadvertent ethical issues can be reviewed and avoided. Walden’s systematic investigation will not accept any responsibility for student research without going through the IRB process. Another positive aspect of the IRB is its ability to detect harm not only to the participant but also the researcher (Yegidis, et al., 2012). Also, the university’s IRB allows for “exempt status” of research with no potential for human risk which opens up a vast opportunity for examining gaps in instructional education improvement (Walden University, n.d.). Walden is diligent in its reviews and stays in a continual learning modality for new ways of improving the process.

References

Walden University. (n.d.). Academic Guidelines: Research Ethics and Compliance: Welcome from the IRB. Retrieved March 8, 2018. From http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/researchcenter/

Yegidis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., & Myers, L. L. (2012). Research methods for social workers (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Allyn & Bacon.