Assignment: Ethics in Research

In this course, you will complete two RAs that make up 50% of your total class grade. In RA 1, you will write a reaction paper to evaluate the research methodologies used in a particular study.

In RA 2, you will use what you have learned about research questions and literature reviews to write a well-structured research question on a human services topic that interests you, in addition to writing a literature review on this topic.
As you are working through this course, one aspect of both analyzing a study and considering the development of your own study is being able to apply the ethical standards of research as set for by the APA. In addition to formulating your plan for completing your two assignments, you will also apply what you learned from the article by Nagy (2011) to a research study of your choice.

Tasks:

Part 1:

• Carefully review the descriptions of the RAs. Prepare a time line for each assignment for completing each part of these assignments.

• For each task that you include in the time line, describe what you will do to complete it. List the types of resources and information you will need to obtain in order to complete each task, as well as the strategy you will use to collect information from these resources.

• Submit the research question that you would like to use as the foundation for your literature review due in Module 5.

Part 2:

Using the Argosy University online library resources, locate a research study (professional literature) from the human services field. Professional literature may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, or .gov).

In a 2-3 page paper, respond to the following using the APA style:

• Provide a brief overview of your selected study, making sure that you cover the purpose of the study, the methodology used, the participants, the way the data was collected and analyzed, and the outcomes.

• If you were the researcher conducting this study and found that you were not familiar with the particular research population, what steps would you take to prepare yourself to conduct the research with this population?

• In developing an informed consent form for participation in research, what are the eight basic elements you would include in the form as applied to your selected study? Make sure that you provide the details of each element as though you were constructing an informed consent form to provide to your participants.

• How does this research study contribute to the field of human services? How does it benefit society? Does this benefit outweigh the possible risks associated with the study? Discuss.

• Was any deception used in this study? If so, why was this deception necessary? If not, do you think that the study would have benefited from any kind of deception? Explain.

• What is the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and what role does it play in research? Explain with reference to your selected study.

Reference: Nagy, T. F. (2011). Ethics in research and publication. In Essential ethics in psychology: A primer for understanding and mastering core issues (pp. 199-216). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.