The development of the internet and other communications technologies over the past decade have seen a corresponding growth in the development and use of technologically-based research methodologies. This paper explores issues arising from the new technology which impact on ethics committees and how these might be addressed. Whilst some ethical issues are comparable in both online and offline worlds there are some elements of the techno-research which require extra consideration. Although ethics guidelines can be found on the worldwide web the (...) onus remains upon techno-researchers and ethics committee members to collaborate in deciding upon the ethical dilemmas and the rigour of proposed techno-research solutions. (shrink)

These CQ Sources were compiled by Bette Anton.

Increasingly, the Internet is proving to be an important research tool. Today, cyberspace affords researchers easy access to traditionally difficult to reach populations, a host of virtual communities, and a wealth of data created through computer-mediated-communication. This newfound research frontier brings with it, however, a multiplicity of ethical concerns, including: (1) whether the Internet constitutes a private or public space; (2) whether the human subject paradigm is appropriate when considering the ethics of Internet research; and (3) whether cyber participants/‘speakers-as-writers’ and (...) communities should be guaranteed confidentiality and anonymity when researchers contain or consider them in research. This paper examines these specific ethical concerns as they relate to Canada's Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, which, as yet, does not explicitly address ethics involved in Internet research. I propose that in large part the Internet is by definition a public site of activity, and as such, many posters cannot expect their texts to remain confidential, nor their names anonymous, and that the human subject paradigm is highly problematic in terms of regulating ethics involved in some research generated through new information technologies. This is most expressly the case with computer-mediated-communication, which, in light of the Tri-Council Policy Statement, can be viewed as theoretically akin to public entertainment and performance. (shrink)

With the emergence and rapid growth of Social Media, a number of government departments in several countries have embraced Social Media as a privilege channel to interact with their constituency. We are exploring, in collaboration with the Australian Department of Human Services, the possibility to exploit the potential of social networks to support specific groups of citizens. To this end, we have developed Next Step, an online community to help people currently receiving welfare payments find a job and become financially (...) self-sufficient. In this paper, we explore some ethical issues that arise when governments engage directly with citizens, in particular with communities in difficult situations, and when researchers are involved. We describe some of the challenges we faced and how we addressed them. Our work highlights the complexity of the problem, when an online community involves a government department and a welfare recipient group with a dependency relationship with that department. It becomes a balancing act, with the need to ensure privacy of the community members whilst still fulfilling the government’s legal responsibilities. While difficult, these issues must be addressed if governments are to engage with their citizens using Social Media. (shrink)