Ethical Issues

With all of these things that Dr. S has talked about there is always the ethical considerations. We have had to look at informed consent for both the students and the participants, cooperation letters if the participants are in facilities, how to ensure confidentiality, and a zillion more issues. What if the subject says he/she is being abused, what if he/she has a severe emotional reaction to the questions, what if he/she refuses to continue in the middle of the interview.... so many things to think about before the request to proceed with the study goes to the IRB. We have to make sure that each student knows the laws about mandated reporting in their own state, as laws very from state to state. Over all we have to ensure that the benefits of the study out weigh the risks to the subjects.... It means a lot of critical thinking about each question and each assessment and about what the answers may provide. All in all, there is a lot more to looking at the study beyond just what we want to do.....