Teresa Swain  1 posts Re:Topic 2 DQ 2 Drawing on your knowledge from "PSY-815: Ethical Issues in Psychology," studies and literature research you have completed, and the readings and lecture for this topic, reflect on the role of ethics in the research process. Discuss strategies a doctoral learner or researcher might employ to protect participants and the institutions (GCU/data collection site) in a study. Ethical considerations for any study using human subjects must include consideration for consequences of conducting the research.  Ideas such as “do no harm” and reflecting on who will benefit from this research study are of paramount consideration.  The problem conceptualized should be viable and one that once solved could benefit stakeholders without disempowering others (Frost, 2011).   Also there are important logistics of informed consent and confidentiality of participants.  The individual giving informed consent should be of sound mind/body in order to understand the nature of what giving consent means.  Limits of confidentiality need to be considered by those handling data as well as by participants so that any unnecessary exposure or handling of sensitive/confidential material is minimized. Guidelines for ethical considerations are given by APA(2010) and include 5 major principles: (1) beneficence and non-maleficence, (2)fidelity and responsibility, (3) integrity, (4) justice and (5) respect people’s rights and dignity. Explain any concerns/uncertainties you have regarding ethical conduct during dissertation research. Some potential concerns might be in the welfare of participants once a study has concluded.  It could be that during a study, participants build a rapport with the researcher and as a by-product of creating narratives receive some stress reduction from expressing feelings, thoughts and behaviors with an “objective” party.  There might need to be a resource that is available for referral if individuals participating uncover problematic feelings or events that are discovered or uncovered during the process. Other concerns could include the problem with the researcher(s) presence might influence results and observable behaviors.  Concerns with cultural differences, gender, age and other demographic variables may also unintentionally bias data collection and ultimately results. Finally, qualitative data collection might be unpredictable as it is a dynamic system that unfolds in the field with various sources, contexts and situations.  Therefore, consideration must be made for handling dubious scenarios that might arise during this open and continuous process. References APA (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct.  Including 2010 and 2016 amendments. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/ Frost, N. (Ed.). (2011). Qualitative research methods in psychology: Combining core approaches. Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill. ISBN-13: 9780335241514 http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/mcgraw-hill/2011/q ...

1. Teresa Swain
1 posts
Re:Topic 2 DQ 2
Drawing on your knowledge from "PSY-815: Ethical Issues in
Psychology," studies and literature research you have
completed, and the readings and lecture for this topic, reflect on
the role of ethics in the research process.
Discuss strategies a doctoral learner or researcher might employ
to protect participants and the institutions (GCU/data collection
site) in a study.
Ethical considerations for any study using human subjects must
include consideration for consequences of conducting the
research. Ideas such as “do no harm” and reflecting on who
will benefit from this research study are of paramount
consideration. The problem conceptualized should be viable
and one that once solved could benefit stakeholders without
disempowering others (Frost, 2011). Also there are important
logistics of informed consent and confidentiality of
participants. The individual giving informed consent should be
of sound mind/body in order to understand the nature of what
giving consent means. Limits of confidentiality need to be
considered by those handling data as well as by participants so
that any unnecessary exposure or handling of
sensitive/confidential material is minimized.
Guidelines for ethical considerations are given by APA(2010)
and include 5 major principles: (1) beneficence and non-
maleficence, (2)fidelity and responsibility, (3) integrity, (4)
justice and (5) respect people’s rights and dignity.
Explain any concerns/uncertainties you have regarding ethical
conduct during dissertation research.
Some potential concerns might be in the welfare of participants
once a study has concluded. It could be that during a study,

2. participants build a rapport with the researcher and as a by-
product of creating narratives receive some stress reduction
from expressing feelings, thoughts and behaviors with an
“objective” party. There might need to be a resource that is
available for referral if individuals participating uncover
problematic feelings or events that are discovered or uncovered
during the process.
Other concerns could include the problem with the researcher(s)
presence might influence results and observable behaviors.
Concerns with cultural differences, gender, age and other
demographic variables may also unintentionally bias data
collection and ultimately results.
Finally, qualitative data collection might be unpredictable as it
is a dynamic system that unfolds in the field with various
sources, contexts and situations. Therefore, consideration must
be made for handling dubious scenarios that might arise during
this open and continuous process.
References
APA (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of
conduct. Including 2010 and 2016 amendments. Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/
Frost, N. (Ed.). (2011). Qualitative research methods in
psychology: Combining core approaches. Columbus, OH:
McGraw-Hill. ISBN-13: 9780335241514
http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/mcgraw-
hill/2011/qualitative-research-methods-in-psychology_from-
core-to-combined-approaches_ebook_1e.php
Benjamin Garrison
1 posts
Re:Topic 2 DQ 1
Critics of qualitative research often posit that it is subjective
due to the fact that the researcher collects the data. Therefore,
the researcher's own prior experiences, prejudices, and attitudes
may bias the data, and therefore, the results of the study. How
would you respond to someone who presents this criticism to

3. you?
I would agree with them on some level. All data that is analyzed
by a person has some subjectivity despite its use in a qualitative
or quantitative research project. Humans have to manipulate
data sets in both types of research. In quantitative analysis they
have to decide what to do with outliers, they have to decide
what to do with illegible or incomplete surveys, and they have
to decide on the level of significance for the hypothesis testing.
These are all subjective decisions. However, the researcher uses
guidance and standard practices to reduce the chance of
introducing their personal bias into the project. The same is
done with qualitative analysis. Researchers follow the standards
set by their community. This helps reduce the researcher’s
influence on the project.
Weuve et al. (2015) noted that there were a lack of consensus
on how to report methodological problems in dementia research
and established guidelines for their research community. They
reported that this has also been done with several other fields
increasing the “transparency, reproducibility, and
methodological rigor” in their research (p. 1108). Following
guidelines will help standardize research and reduce the chance
of a researcher adding in their personal bias. It also has the
added benefit of increasing the data’s use in meta-analysis. The
data can be combined to build larger data sets.
Other researchers should be able to review the raw data. All
research projects should also have a data management plan.
According to this week’s lecture, the plan will determine how
long the data is kept and when and how it is destroyed (Grand
Canyon University, 2016). The researcher should keep the data
long enough to let the dissertation committee and possibly other
researchers to review the data. They will be able to review the
data to determine if biases have been introduced into the
research project.
Grand Canyon University. (2016). PSY-850 Lecture 2.
Retrieved from https://lc-

4. grad2.gcu.edu/learningPlatform/user/users.html?token=vw1JFm
eOZneAS7gj7wUQV24IkxAxzH8AMePV0w9Mo9CklzIdx8QGm
v6pRZNBgAZPH1hsiFiE9ppYoksXrZl3UQ%3d%3d&operation=
home&classId=1986869#/learningPlatform/loudBooks/loudbook
s.html?viewPage=current&operation=innerPage&currentTopicna
me=Designing%20Qualitative%20Studies;%20Relationships%20
Among%20Researchers,%20Subjectscc3541363537&contentId=
9a385a4a-2a38-4b6f-9e66-cfcc6d0ec09e&
Weuve, J., Proust-Lima, C., Power, M. C., Gross, A. L., Hofer,
S. M., Thiébaut, R., Chêneb, G., Glymourh, M. & Dufouil, C.
(2015). Guidelines for reporting methodological challenges and
evaluating potential bias in dementia research. Alzheimer's &
Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 11(9),
1098-1109. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2015.06.1885
Teresa Swain
1 posts
Re:Topic 2 DQ 1
Critics of qualitative research often posit that it is subjective
due to the fact that the researcher collects the data. Therefore,
the researcher's own prior experiences, prejudices, and attitudes
may bias the data, and therefore, the results of the study.
How would you respond to someone who presents this criticism
to you?
Unfortunately all research is subject to bias because each
researcher brings their own experiences, prejudices and
attitudes. Additionally, qualitative method is subjective in
nature due to inquiry as one of its’s hallmarks; that is,
inquisition. Author Tracy (2010), suggests that quality
quantitative research has 8 essential characteristics: (1) worthy
topic, (2) rich rigor, (3) sincerity, (4) credibility, (5) resonance,
(6) significant contribution, (7) ethics, and (8) meaningful
coherence.
Tracy defends the need for a model with rules and criteria in

5. order for scientists to learn from one another in this best
practice and to strive to craft perfection. Learning needs a path
as a guide and by setting specific standards of practice one has
a way to reflect upon that which was done at or above standard
and that which needs improvement. Therefore, perhaps one of
the ways to address the criticism is to create pedagogical
standards that demonstrate rigor in order to defend credibility
concerns.
References
Tracy, S. J. (2010). Qualitative quality: Eight “Big-tent” criteria
for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(10),
837-851. doi:10.1177/1077800410383121