Evidence Based Questions

1. Discuss the concept of vulnerable subjects. Why would a researcher or institutional review board (IRB) need to consider this concept when planning a research project? Describe the role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) in the review of the research plan.

Vulnerable subjects refer to participants in research that do not have the ability to consent. When planning a research topic considering vulnerable participants is essential to ensure no harm comes to the research participants. Vulnerable subjects include children, the elderly, and the mentally defective. If someone is incapable of making a decision for themselves due to impairment or due to their age they are vulnerable. If a person has no control over their lives, such as prison inmates, then they would also be considered a vulnerable subject. A researcher or institutional review board (IRB) would consider the concept of vulnerable subjects to ensure no one become harmed during the research. Past human violations in research have led to the need to have IRB review the research plan to ensure if there are any vulnerable participants they will not be harmed. There are certain ethical obligations that must be met in the research working when working with human subjects (NIH, 2011).

National Institute of Health. (2011). Research Involving Vulnerable Population. Retrieved

August 24, 2014 from http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/hs/populations.htm

2. Human Experimentation Look at the different examples of human experimentation that have occurred within the history of medical research. Have these projects resulted in beneficial outcomes for society? Can human experimentation be justified when the greater good of society is at take? Defend your thought

Human experimentation has a negative past but in truth thanks to scientific discoveries there have been many positive changes for mankind. For example thanks to research there are now cures for all types of disease and treatments for all types of disorders. The problem with human experimentation is past horrific experiments that have forever harmed science and humanity have created a negative connotation associated with to human experimentation especially concerning the actions of Nazi in experimenting on Jewish people and other experiments such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. While some human experimentation did cause harm to the participants in current society ethical standards have been developed to stop this type of harm. Human experimentation is justified if it creates a benefit to society and limits harm to the participants. In order to ensure the research can be tested for human use it requires research with human participants. Human participants should also provide informed consent which means they have been informed fully on the research and understand what it entails.

3. Discuss the characteristics of qualitative designs. Within the discussion, speak to the strengths and weaknesses of the designs. Examine and discuss the data collection issues for a qualitative study, including the relationships between the researcher and the participants and the reflections of the researcher on the meanings obtained from the data. Carefully consider the idea of saturation. Discuss how you can determine that saturation has occurred within a research project?

Qualitative design refers to a research approach where data is developed on the research topic and then rich, descriptions are created on the data that was developed. In the qualitative research design observations are made in order to give the researcher insight into the phenomena being studied (Neil, 2006). Qualitative research design is an intensive examination of a particular phenomena but it is not without its challenges. For one the findings of the research are based on a subject’s point of view. The data collection issues associated with qualitative data collection is more subjective than other approaches and is holistic in nature. The researcher is responsible for identifying the themes in the research ad structuring the findings. Saturation refers to using too much of the same data in order to develop findings in the research. When too much data on the same topic is part of the research in can result in saturation of the topic.

Neil, J. (2006). Qualitative vs. Quantitative research. Retrieved August 24, 2014 from http://www.wilderdom.com/research/QualitativeVersusQuantitativeResearch.html

4. Discuss the characteristics of experimental, quasi-experimental and non-experimental. Within the discussion, speak to the strengths and weaknesses of the designs.

The non experimental design refers to conducting research without conducting any experiments. Non experimental research requires the collection of data through other means than the experimental the experimental design uses the experiment in order to develop data on the phenomena. In the experimental design the variables are manipulated and participants are selected randomly (Trochim, 2006). In the quasi experimental design experiments are conducted to collect data but there is no random design. The disadvantage is not as many variable to control. The advantages of the quasi experimental design are its greater external validity and is more time saving than the experimental design. The experimental design tests casual relationships between variables and uses random selection design. The disadvantage of this approach is it is more costly and time consuming than the other designs. The non experimental design is less costly and time consuming but the results are more reliable and valid.

Trochim, W. (2006). Quasi Experimental Design. Retrieved August 24, 2014 from

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/quasiexp.php