Some ethical standards to remember when conducting internet research are privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity (Hokke et al., 2018). Anonymity implies that study subjects should be selected fairly, and so this principle is crucial since it prevents the exploitation of vulnerable groups and selection bias, which could be launched by the researcher. Anonymity also assures that the researcher does not favor one group over another when performing the investigation. Participant privacy entails protecting the privacy of human subjects engaging in research and ensuring that their personal information is kept private. Maintaining the privacy of human subjects and their information, in essence, reduces the risk of deductive closure. Furthermore, study participants must be assured that their information will not be accessible to other online researchers without their consent, and if this occurs, the individuals must offer consent.
Confidentiality signifies that the researcher must honor the agreements made with the human subjects, and that any information supplied with the researchers must not be disclosed with outsiders. Essentially, this assures that the personal information of research participants is not made public. Another ethical difficulty in internet research is consent. To protect the confidentiality and privacy of human subjects, researchers may choose to use identifiers other than the participants’ real names. To avoid unwanted access, information about human subjects should be stored safely and securely, preferably in encrypted computer systems (Bender et al., 2017). Furthermore, before engaging in any research, online researchers must acquire the agreement of human subjects. To secure the agreement of research participants, researchers should explain what the research comprises and how they will protect them and their information. So far, I have learned more about my topic, and as a result, I will update the previous literature review. This is necessary to support the information presented in the review.
References
Bender, J. L., Cyr, A. B., Arbuckle, L., & Ferris, L. E. (2017). Ethics and privacy implications of using the internet and social media to recruit participants for health research: a privacy-by-design framework for online recruitment. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(4), e7029.
Hokke, S., Hackworth, N. J., Quin, N., Bennetts, S. K., Wen, H. Y., Nicholson, J. M., … & Crawford, S. B. (2018). Ethical issues in using the internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review. PloS one, 13(9), e0204572.
Some ethical issues to keep in my when using internet-based research are anonymity, confidentiality, dignity, protection, safety, and informed consent. My sample group is small, and I did not plan on using internet-based research such as online surveys to gather my data. I am planning on using a traditional paper survey. To ensure my research is conducted ethically, I will be open and honest with the participants and make sure they clearly know that their protection is first and foremost important. I will make sure to maintain anonymity and confidentiality for the participants. I will make sure to provide a comprehensive explanation of the purpose of this study, providing informed consent
Sugiura, L., Wiles, R., & Pope, C. (2017). Ethical challenges in online research: Public/private perceptions. Research Ethics, 13(3–4), 184–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747016116650720
Tappen, R. M. (2015). Advanced Nursing Research (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781284132496
The examination of non-numerical data such as opinions, concepts, and experiences is part of qualitative research. It is widely used in social sciences, notably in the investigation of social interactions, processes, and systems. Qualitative researchers have made significant contributions to health services and policy research, providing critical insights into how people perceive health and illness, patients’ views, interprofessional team dynamics, and a variety of other aspects of care delivery (Arifin, 2018). Clinical nurse specialists can obtain an understanding of specific patient populations’ behaviors, needs, and experiences by doing qualitative research.
