Thursday, October 11, 2001

Committee of Scholars Proposes Ethics Guidelines for Research in Cyberspace By JEFFREY R. YOUNG Proposed ethics guidelines for scholars who conduct research in cyberspace are set to be released today in a preliminary report from the Association of Internet Researchers. But the report also reveals disagreements over the lengths that researchers should go to in protecting the identities of online-research participants, especially those in public chat rooms. The report says that ethical guidelines for using human subjects in other research contexts should serve as a starting point. It states, for example, that researchers have "primary obligations" to do no harm, to protect the anonymity and confidentiality of subjects, and to obtain informed consent. But the report's main goal is to highlight the specific challenges posed by working in cyberspace. One of the most contentious issues, for instance, is whether researchers who study behavior in online chat rooms should publish the pseudonyms of participants. "If what you're studying is how personalities express themselves, then if you change the pseudonym, you dilute the flavor of your reporting," said Charles Ess, the chairman of the committee that drafted the report. Mr. Ess is director of the interdisciplinary-studies center at Drury University. On the other hand, Mr. Ess added, if you do publish a pseudonym, someone might be able to use the archives of chat discussions to determine the participant's identity. "That's coming close to failing to protect anonymity." Twenty-one professors and graduate students served on the committee that drafted the report. The group did most of its work online over the past year. Another question highlighted in the report is whether researchers should get informed consent from participants in studies of online behavior. Some members of the committee said Yes, but others argued that scholars should be able to conduct research in public chat areas without consent. "Users choose to participate in the public areas of the chat room and may thereby be understood to implicitly give consent to observation," the report says. "In light of these differences, committee members have argued that [some] exception to the requirement to obtain informed consent may be ethically justified." The report also says that more steps should be taken to educate Internet users about the possibility that their online interactions might be monitored -- if not by academic researchers, then by corporations or other groups. One suggestion: that "ethical warning labels" be prominently displayed in public chat rooms to alert users that their comments are on display. To highlight the importance of online-research ethics, the report argues that undertaking research in cyberspace poses a greater risk to the privacy and confidentiality of human subjects than does conducting research in other contexts. Such risks are greater, it says, "because of greater accessibility of information about individuals, groups, and their communications -- and in ways that would prevent subjects from knowing that their behaviors and communications are being observed and recorded." Steve G. Jones, president of the Association of Internet Researchers, said that as more people study the Internet, it is important to work out basic ethics guidelines for online researchers. That's not to say that Internet scholars are now acting in unethical ways, said Mr. Jones, a communications professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In fact, he said he is worried that institutional review boards, the groups that oversee research ethics on many campuses, are being too tough on Internet researchers. "IRB's are not allowing Internet research to happen because they're so concerned," he said. "They're really erring on the side of caution." "I had a graduate student who wanted to do focus groups online, and the IRB wouldn't let her do it because it is possible that any member of the focus group can post" the full transcript of the discussion, Mr. Jones said. "She ended up doing a survey and a face-to-face focus group," he said, adding that the revised approach may not have been as effective. The report is scheduled to be released at the group's annual conference, in Minneapolis. The committee plans to continue its work and to publish a final report next year. Background articles from The Chronicle: Internet Studies 1.0: a Discipline Is Born (3/30/2001) Use of 'Cookies' in Research Sparks a Debate Over Privacy (9/25/1998) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Senate appropriations subcommittee proposes big boost for NIH, gains and losses for student aid California enacts broad law requiring sex offenders to register with campus police V.S. Naipaul wins Nobel Prize in Literature Most American scholars abroad are staying put, while those in some nations must leave Bloomsburg U. of Pennsylvania closes for the week because of bomb threats Talladega College names interim leader, after letting president go at start of academic year Louisiana State U. settles lawsuit with female athletes for $1.2-million Education Department awards $10.5-million for colleges to provide child care Congress is urged to spend more on research into ways to counter cyberterrorism Committee of scholars proposes ethics guidelines for research in cyberspace  House votes to ease rules on distance education, but Senators may not agree