Research Question and Ethical Issues

Student’s Name

Institution Affiliation

Course Name and Code

Professor’s Name

Date

Research Question and Ethical Issues

Part 1

Quantitative Research Question

What is the relationship between romantic relationships and the academic performance of high school students?

Hypothesis

H0: There exists no significant relationship between being in a romantic relationship and the academic performance of high school students.

H1: There exists a significant relationship between being in a romantic relationship and the academic performance of high school students.

Part 2

The Purpose of IRB

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a formally designated administrative body, whose main goal is to ensure, both in the periodic review and in advance, those appropriate steps are followed to protect the privacy, welfare, and rights of human subjects recruited to take part in research projects carried out by the institution to which it is affiliated (Lapid et al., 2019). To achieve this, IRB utilizes a group procedure to review research protocols and any related materials such as investigator brochures and informed consent forms before the initiation of research. This body has the power to approve, request modifications of research activities, and disapprove research. Since this study will involve human subjects, it will require IRB approval.

Informed Consent

The aim of the informed consent procedure in research is to give potential participants sufficient information regarding the study so that the participants can make a voluntary decision on whether or not to participate in the research (Nijhawan et al., 2013). Potential participants of this study will be provided with an informed consent form, which will cover various key elements of the study including the purpose of the research, the study procedures and expected duration of participation, the benefits of taking part in the study (if any), the risks and discomforts of participation, and how they will be handled by the researcher, measures to ensure privacy and confidentiality of participants, and the researcher’s contact details.

Protection from Harm

Participant safety will be guaranteed by ensuring confidentiality, privacy, and anonymity of the research subjects. To ensure research participants’ anonymity the researcher will not collect any identifying information such as addresses, names, and phone numbers. Instead, pseudonyms will be used to identify the participants. To ensure confidentiality, the collected data will not be shared with a third party either during or after the research. Furthermore, only the researcher will have access to the collected data. The data will be stored in the researcher’s password-protected personal computer and backed up in an external storage device, which will be stored in a locked file cabinet. The data will be permanently deleted three years after data analysis and reporting.

The Issue of Deception in the Study

This study will not involve any form of deception. To avoid deception, the researcher will fully debrief the potential participants on what the study will include and what is expected of them. Also, participants will be allowed to ask questions regarding the study before signing the consent form so that they get to understand all the aspects of the study. Also, participants will be free to ask any questioning regarding additional information requested from them which was not included in the informed consent form.

References

Lapid, M. I., Clarke, B. L., & Wright, R. S. (2019, March). Institutional review boards: What clinician researchers need to know. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 94 (3), 515-525). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2019.01.020Nijhawan, L. P., Janodia, M. D., Muddukrishna, B. S., Bhat, K. M., Bairy, K. L., Udupa, N., & Musmade, P. B. (2013). Informed consent: Issues and challenges. Journal of advanced pharmaceutical technology & research, 4(3), 134. https://doi.org/10.4103%2F2231-4040.116779