The internet offers an opportunity for researchers to engage participants in research in a cost-effective and timely manner. Yet the use of the internet as a research tool comes with a range of ethical concerns, posing challenges for both researchers and ethics committees. For example: tracking down participants who dropped out of longitudinal studies - is it appropriate to use social media to trace subjects for follow-up research?
Sharinne Crawford and colleagues looked into key ethical issues of using the internet to recruit, retain and trace participants in public health research, from the perspectives of researchers and human research ethics committee (HREC) members. The research was published recently in the journal Internet Research (2019, Vol. 29, Issue 1).
An interview with Sharinne about this research featured in the news section of the Times Higher Education: Online recruitment of research subjects ‘an ethical minefield’ (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/online-recruitment-research-subjects-ethical-minefield).
The study highlighted researchers’ lack of awareness of published guidelines that focus on internet research, and HREC members’ lack of familiarity with the multiple and changing internet technologies available, contributing to difficulties and frustrations with making informed decisions regarding the ethical appropriateness of internet research for both groups and provides recommendations.
