CITI Ethics Review

Researchers must report potential unanticipated problems that involve risks to others directly to the:

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

According to federal regulations, the expedited review process may be used when the study procedures pose:

No more than minimal risk and the research activities fall within regulatory categories identified as eligible.

In addition to pregnant women, fetuses, and neonates, another subpart of the HHS regulations provides additional protections for which of the following vulnerable populations?

Prisoners

An example cited in the Belmont Report (The National Commission 1979) stated that "During the 19th and early 20th centuries the burdens of serving as research subjects fell largely upon poor ward patients, while the benefits of improved medical care flowed primarily to private patients." This is an example of a violation of which Belmont principle?

Justice

Continuing review of an approved and ongoing study posing more than minimal risk that was initially approved by a convened IRB:

Must occur within 12 months of the approval date.

According to the federal regulations, which of the following studies meets the definition of research with human subjects?

A cognitive psychologist enrolls undergraduate students for a computer-based study about the effect of mood on problem-solving behaviors.

According to the federal regulations, which of the following studies meets the definition of research with human subjects?

A study of twenty 4th grade classrooms in which researchers ask the schools to systematically vary the time of day reading is taught, and collect weekly assessments of reading comprehension for each child over a three-month period.

A criterion for waiving informed consent is that, when appropriate, subjects are provided additional pertinent information after the study. In which of the following studies would it NOT be appropriate to provide subjects with information about missing elements of consent:

A study in which subjects were assigned to study activities based on an undesirable or unflattering physical characteristic as assessed by members of the research team.

The procedures for reporting potential unanticipated problems involving risk to subjects or others to the IRB are:

Determined by the institution in its written policies and procedures

A researcher submits a study to the IRB that proposes to evaluate a new after-school on-line tutoring program for middle-school students in a local school district examining the effect on student grades. She proposes to perform this assessment at the school that her children attend, because she is familiar with the school district. Students may use either their personal smartphone or computer to participate in the program. This study might be determined to be violating which principle of the Belmont Report?

Justice

According to the federal regulations, human subjects are living individuals about whom an investigator conducting research obtains information through interaction or intervention with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information; or:

Obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information.

A researcher is interested in assessing risk-taking by individuals. The researcher is sitting on a bench near a busy four-way stop intersection. She plans on recording the number of bike riders wearing a safety helmet and whether they stop at the intersection before proceeding in order to correlate use of safety apparel with risk-taking. This collection of information is an example of:

Public behavior

Humphreys' collecting data for the Tearoom Trade study under the pretense that he was a lookout is an example of a violation of the principle of:

Respect for persons

What statement about risks in social and behavioral sciences research is most accurate:

Risks are specific to time, situation, and culture.

In a longitudinal study that will follow children from kindergarten through high school and will collect information about illegal activities, which of the following confidentiality procedures would protect against compelled disclosure of individually identifiable information?

Securing a Certificate of Confidentiality

A general requirement for informed consent is that no informed consent may include any exculpatory language. Exculpatory language is that which waives or appears to waive any of the subject's legal rights or releases or appears to release those conducting the research from liability for negligence. Which of the following statements in a consent form is an example of exculpatory language?

Taking part in the research is voluntary, but if you choose to take part, you waive the right to legal redress for any research-related injuries.

According to the federal regulations, research is eligible for exemption, if:

The research falls into one of eight categories of research activity described in the regulations.

A researcher wants to do a web-based survey of college students to collect information about their sexual behavior and drug use. Direct identifiers will not be collected; however, IP addresses may be present in the data set. Risk of harm should be evaluated by:

Both the magnitude (or severity) and the probability (or likelihood) of harm.

A researcher wishes to study generational differences in coping mechanisms among adults who experienced abuse as children. Adequate measures will be instituted to obtain informed consent and ensure that there is no breach of confidentiality. The most likely additional risk is that some subjects may:

Experience emotional or psychological distress.

According to OHRP, a problem is an "unanticipated problem" when it meets which of the following criteria:

Unexpected, related or possibly related to the research, suggests the research puts subjects or others at greater risk

Which of the following constitutes both a breach of confidentiality (the research data have been disclosed, counter to the agreement between researcher and subjects) and a violation of subjects' privacy (the right of the individuals to be protected against intrusion into their personal lives or affairs)?

A faculty member makes identifiable data about sexual behavior available to graduate students, although the subjects were assured that the data would be de-identified.

Identify the example of when situation and time are key to assessing risk of harm in a research study:

A study on the efficacy of a behavioral intervention for smoking cessation that involves both adults and teenagers (who are underage to purchase tobacco) in the United States

Additional protections researchers can include in their practice to protect subject privacy and data confidentiality include:

All of the above

A researcher conducts a focus group to learn about attitudes towards hygiene and disease prevention. Two weeks after the focus group, the researcher learns one of the subjects had a heart attack at home and was hospitalized, but made a full recovery. Based on HHS regulations, should the researcher report this event to the IRB?

No, this does not need to be reported because it is unrelated to participation in the study.

Which of the following statements about the relationship between an institution and the institution's IRB(s) is correct?

Officials of the institution may overrule an IRB approval.

Which of the following studies is linked most directly to the establishment of the National Research Act in 1974 and ultimately to the Belmont Report and federal regulations for human subject protection?

PHS Tuskegee Study

The primary purpose of a Certificate of Confidentiality is to:

Protect identifiable research information from compelled disclosure.

A waiver of the requirement for documentation of informed consent may be granted when:

The only record linking the subject and the research is the consent document and the principal risk is a breach of confidentiality.

A therapist at a free university clinic treats elementary school children with behavior problems who are referred by a social service agency. She is also a doctoral candidate who proposes using data she has and will collect about the children for a case-based research project. Which of the following statements about parental permission is correct?

The parents of the children might feel pressure to give permission to the therapist to use their children's data so that she will continue to provide services to their children.

When a focus group deals with a potentially sensitive topic, which of the following statements about providing confidentiality to focus group participants is correct?

The researcher cannot control what participants repeat about others outside the group.

As part of the consent process, the federal regulations require researchers to:

Provide potential subjects with information at the appropriate reading comprehension level.

A census is a regularly-occurring and official count of a particular population. Census data available at the United States Census Bureau website are an example of:

Public information

A researcher conducting behavioral research collects individually identifiable sensitive information about illicit drug use and other illegal behaviors by surveying college students. The data are stored on a laptop computer without encryption, and the laptop computer is stolen from the researcher's car on the way home from work. This is an unanticipated problem that must be reported because the incident was (a) unexpected (in other words, the researchers did not anticipate the theft); (b) related to participation in the research; and (c) placed the subjects at a greater risk of psychological and social harm from the breach in confidentiality of the study data than was previously known or recognized. According to OHRP, this unanticipated problem must be reported to the IRB in which timeframe?

Promptly

A study was submitted to the IRB designed to evaluate the effect of background noise on an individual's ability to concentrate and answer questions. The IRB approved the study and consent form. The consent form includes all the required information. The use of a consent form is an example of the Belmont principle of:

Respect for persons

A researcher leaves a research file in her car while she attends a concert and her car is stolen. The file contains charts of aggregated numerical data from a research study with human subjects, but no other documents. The consent form said that no identifying information would be retained, and the researcher adhered to that component. Which of the following statements best characterizes what occurred?

There was neither a violation of privacy nor a breach of confidentiality.