Researchers worry that informing participants about study details might alter their behavior, potentially skewing results. For instance, telling students that a study is assessing whether gaming apps increase class participation might lead them to act differently. This concern is valid, as awareness of being observed can influence behavior.
However, in action research, viewing participants as collaborators is crucial. Hiding the study’s true purpose is unethical and undermines the collaborative aspect. Using various data types (triangulation) can enhance the study’s reliability and mitigate bias.
It’s important to communicate honestly and openly with participants. As a researcher and educator, sharing your goals of learning and improvement with students is vital. Emphasize that this isn’t just about teaching them, but also about enhancing your own understanding and methods. By showing genuine interest in improving your teaching for their benefit, you’re likely to engage them more effectively.
It’s important to convey that this research is a joint endeavor aimed at mutual growth, not just an exercise conducted on them.
Special Care
Special care will need to be taken to ensure the students understand the purpose of the project, risks/potential harms, and how the information they share will be used/kept confidential. In short, they need to be allowed to make informed consent for the project and to opt out without any repercussions.
Informed Consent Checklist
Be sure to include these elements in your consent script:
Fillable Form: Document Generator
You can fill in (or leave blank) and download the MS Word version of the document by clicking on the Document Export tab of the activity below.
Research Data Management
The data you gather as a researcher not only provides the evidence base for the results you make public, they may have ongoing value to you and others and where they are used, they can be cited to your benefit.
As researchers, the responsible preservation and sharing of research data is an integral component of scholarly work. Data deposit is now a common and expected part of the research process and the Centennial College Libraries supports researchers as they adhere to Canada’s Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy:
“The agencies believe that research data collected through the use of public funds should be responsibly and securely managed and be, where ethical, legal and commercial obligations allow, available for reuse by others”
(Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy For Consultation, 2021)
The Centennial Library has a tool to help researchers who are required to submit a “data management plan” (DMP) called DMP Assistant. You can create an account as an external user to access these resources. The tool will prompt you with questions about your data, storage, and preservation plan. You can answer the questions right in the tool and then print out a plan at the end. You can read more about it here: RDM library guide. There is no right or wrong DMP. They exist to help you think about how you can protect your data. For example, if everyone else on your research team suddenly moved to another institution would you still have access to the data? Would the data still be secure?
Additional Resource
Watch the video and take note of what information you think is relevant to your setting (i.e. classroom) when it comes to informed consent.
- ELLICSR: Health, Wellness & Cancer Survivorship Centre, “What is Informed Consent / Informed Consent Training“, YouTube, Jul 18, 2017.
