Read the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research’s “The Belmont Report.”

Assignment

Application: Ethical and Cultural Considerations

After completing the study activities in this unit, discuss how you will apply two ethical principles and two cultural considerations to your pre-proposal assignment. The suggested length of this post is 300–400. This post needs to be supported with at least two references.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of two peers, extending the discussion. Consider sharing a professional experience with using codes of ethics or describing a cultural consideration about which you still have questions. Each peer response needs to be supported with one reference

1^st  Peer Post

Sheperis, Young and Daniels (2010) explain how if a counselor and/or researcher does not engage in ethical research practices, then harm could come to the participants.  This application of ethics extends not only to the data collecting portion of the research, but also the design of the study as well as the publication of the results (Sheperis, Young & Daniels, 2010).  One ethical principle that will play a role in my pre-proposal is obtaining the signed informed consent from all participants.  Since my research will be working with individuals who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia it will be important to make sure that the participants understand the informed consent and are competent to sign (ACA, 2014).  The family members of the individual with schizophrenia should also confirm that they understand the informed consent and are competent to sign.  No one will be allowed to participant if there is not consent, and understanding of the consent.  Another ethical principle that will apply to my pre-proposal is ensuring the autonomy and safety of the participants (ACA, 2014).  It is the responsibility of the researchers to ensure that all participants are treated fairly and given a chance to voice their thoughts, opinions, and concerns.  If any participant has diminished capacity the researchers must protect those individuals from potential harm (Sheperis, Young & Daniels, 2010). 

A cultural consideration for my pre-proposal falls within working with a group of participants that have a mental illness.  It is imperative to ensure that the individuals who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia do not feel stereotyped or minimized in any way.  In the publication of the results it is also important that the researchers do not generalize this group of individuals (Sheperis, Young & Daniels, 2010).  Another cultural consideration that may come into play with this research is test adaptation.  Since the participants will be including their families in this study, there could be a chance that the family members do not speak English as their first language.  If there were any change of them misunderstanding any of the assessment tools used, or a chance that they did not understand English enough to participant in the verbal portions of the research, there would need to be an adaptation made to the assessment to be in the language the participant understands (Sheperis, Young & Daniels, 2010).  If these cultural considerations are not taken into account this study could cause harm to the participants in many ways, including misrepresentation of data or causing offense to the participants.

Resources

American Counseling Association (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Sheperis, C. J., Young, J. S., & Daniels, M. H. (2010). Counseling research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

2^nd   Peer Post

Application: Ethical and Cultural Considerations

Ethical principles should apply in everything a person does, whether in private or professional life.  According to our text, using ethics is part of being responsible, using integrity, and knowing the difference between right or wrong.  (Sheperis, Young, & Daniels, 2010)

My pre-proposal assignment is going to include researching children and the connection with dyslexia.  When working with children there are several ethical considerations a researcher must adhere to before undergoing the research project.  Informed consent (ACA G.2.a) is very important when working with clients.  It is a researchers obligation to make sure the clients in the study are informed of their rights and responsibilities, as well as be given information on  what the research is for , if the research is untried,  if the research will be uncomfortable, and the procedures the research will use.  In this research study, the limits of confidentiality must be advised because the research may be shared with interested parties, such as educational providers, and it is important to advise the parents of the children, they can remove their children as participants at any time.   Which brings up another ethical consideration, due to the fact the participant will be children, they are persons not capable of giving informed consent, which means their guardians are the ones who will have to agree to let their children participate. (ACA, G.2.e) Of the many ethical considerations which should be used for this research, one more ethical consideration should be mentioned.  Children who are diagnosed with dyslexia often have low self-esteem.  Researchers working with children who may already have low self-esteem should make sure they do not further harm to the participants, (G.1.e) (“As approved by the ACA Governing Council,” 2014)

The cultural considerations which should be included in my pre-proposal research would be to recognize there is diversity in dyslexia.  Dyslexia seems to affect all cultures.  The cultural considerations which would be given would be to make sure information would be given in the language needed, which includes any assessments, it would not be fair to try and research dyslexia in English if the student only reads and write in Spanish. Using these two approaches will help recognize cultural diversity in research.