Protection of Human Subjects in Education Research

Session Submission Type: Professional Development Course

Abstract

This course examines human research protection issues in the design, development, implementation, and review of social science research. The course provides education researchers with an understanding of key concepts that inform federal guidelines on human research protection (e.g., consent, privacy and confidentiality, benefits and harms, level of risk) and the tools for assessing best ethical practices in the context of social science research. In addressing ethical issues in human research, the course focuses on a breadth of methodological approaches that are used in education research and the social sciences (e.g.,. surveys, interviews, observations, ethnographies, case studies, laboratory and field experiments, secondary analysis of extant data). Attention is paid to human research protection issues involved in data collection, data use, data protection, data reporting, and data dissemination. The course consists of three major units: understanding key concepts and ethical guidance in human subjects research, putting human research protections into practice in education research, and comprehending the IRB process and the role of review. Building upon research examples, the course examines how to weigh human research protection issues with carrying substantive topics, methods, contexts, and populations under study. A volume of specially prepared readings and background materials is provided, and participants will be asked to complete in advance a brief information form to help structure the course in a way that is responsive to the concerns, interests, and expertise of participants.

Sub Unit

• Professional Development and Training Committee

Directors

• Felice J. Levine, American Educational Research Association

• Kimberly Trumbull Kendziora, American Institutes for Research