The Federal Regs say (see
http://www.med.umich.edu/irbmed/FederalDocuments/hhs/HHS45CF
R46.html), section 46.116
"1. Basic elements of informed consent. Except as provided in
paragraph (c) or (d) of this section, in seeking informed consent,
the following information shall be provided to each subject:
....(points 1-6 deleted)
7. An explanation of whom to contact for answers to pertinent
questions about the research and research subjects' rights, and
whom to contact in the event of a research-related injury to the
subject"
This doesn't seem to be the case in the consent form you describe.
My personal belief (and the belief of our current review board,
though I don't have a reg handy to quote) is that for student projects,
contact information for the professor should also be provided.
hh
>
> Greetings:
>
> I just got an email from a colleague asking for my guidance in a potentially
> unethical situation in his department involving research and informed
> consent. I told him that I would like to submit this question to TIPS and he
> gave me permission to do so. Please respond to me on the list and I will
> forward all of your responses to him. Thanks for your help with this!
>
> Rod
>
> Here are the relevant comments pasted from his email:
> --
> --
> Earlier today I received an envelope in my mailbox containing a number of
> blank surveys and a cover letter requesting my participation in the research
> project. The researcher is a undergraduate student in an Experimental
> Research and Design course and is conducting this study as part of the course
> requirements. In the cover letter, the student researcher requested that I
> distribute the surveys to the students in one of my classes, allow them class
> time to anonymously complete the survey, and return the completed surveys to
> our department chair (who is also the instructor of the course). The cover
> letter had all the standard elements of an informed consent form, including a
> comment that the research had been approved by the appropriate university
> review boards, but the letter did not include the name of the student
> researcher. Instead of the signature, it read: �Name Withheld (to prevent
> bias in people responding)�.
>
> After receiving this packet I spoke to the department chair about whether or
> not this sort of anonymous informed consent form was customary for this
> course. The department chair stated that the student researcher was
> concerned that some faculty and students might not comply with the research
> if they knew the identity of the student researcher. Apparently, the student
> researcher was concerned that some of the faculty and students did not like
> her and thus would choose to not participate in the study.
>
> Question #1: Is the identity of the researcher something that is ethically
> required to be included in an informed consent form? That is, can
> participants truly give informed consent if they don�t know who is conducting
> the research?
>
> Question #2: If this research is not considered ethical because of the
> anonymity of the researcher, should I still distribute these surveys to my
> students? Would I be acting unethically if I did this?
>
> Question #3: If this research is not considered ethical because of the
> anonymity of the researcher, is the department chair acting unethically by
> allowing this type of research to be conducted by her students? Should I
> approach the department chair about my reasons for not distributing the
> survey to my students? Keep in mind that I am an untenured, junior faculty
> and the department chair will play a major role when I go up for tenure. If
> I approach the department chair about my concerns with this research, am I
> jeopardizing my own future at this university?
>
>
> ---
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Helen C. Harton, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Area Coordinator, Experimental Social Graduate Program
Department of Psychology
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0505
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