Role of an IRB members.

For one of the following studies, take the role of an IRB members. Would you approve the study? Why or why not? Provide your response in the context of the ethical considerations that contribute to the risk/benefit ratio. Identify the specific ethical consideration (s) and the potential risks. You are assigned studies by the first letter of your last name.

For those learners with last name beginning with the letter A through J:

Dr. Calais designs a study to assess maternal interaction with children among mothers who have been found to be neglectful and referred to the Department of Social Services. As part of the study, she will be observing the behavior of mothers and counting the number of “prosocial” non-verbal interactions that occur during participation in a “family social event” sponsored by the Department. The mothers do not know that they are being observed and their behavior “counted” during this study.

For those learners with last name beginning with the letter K through R: 

Monica is interested in demonstrating the effectiveness of the local outpatient substance abuse program that she is the director. Potential funders and donors are interested in whether this is a worthwhile investment for the community. She knows that the most rigorous design that will demonstrate the effect of a program is to compare the intervention to a comparison group. So, she plans to randomly assign individuals seeking treatment to the services already provided by the program or to a comparison condition in which the participants wouldn’t receive the service, rather would watch T.V. shows for time that they would have received services.

For those learners with last name beginning with S through Z:

Johnathan is designing a study to describe experiences of individuals who are living in a shelter for extended periods of time. As part of the study, he will be portraying himself as a person residing in the shelter and will be staying in the shelter for one month. No one knows that he is, in fact, conducing this study.