CITI Group 2 Social Behavior Study Guides
Which of the following practices can be effective in minimizing group harms?
- Collaborative IRB review - Ongoing consultation - Planning disclosure of research results - Community consultation
An investigator obtains consent and HIPAA authorization from subjects to review their medical records and HIV status. He plans to go back to the medical record, so the HIV status information is stored along with subject identifiers in a database that he keeps on his laptop computer. His laptop is stolen. This incident constitutes:
A breach of confidentiality
According to the federal regulations, which of the following studies meets the definition of research with human subjects? b
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? d
A developmental psychologist videotapes interactions between groups of toddlers and their care givers to determine which intervention methods most effectively manage aggression.
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.
Which is an example of a situation where deferential vulnerability might be a factor?
A physician recruiting his patients
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 results from research have been known to produce harms to members of the sampled population who do not actually participate in the research study. An example of the type of research that could result in group harms by stigmatizing members of the group (even for individuals who do not participate in the research) is:
A study of the types and prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in small rural towns in a midwestern state.
According to the federal regulations, which of the following studies meets the definition of research with human subjects? a
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.
When workers are asked to participate in a research study, vulnerabilities related to the subject's employment may include:
All of the above: - The employer may encourage or deny participation of workers - Employees may experience pressure from management to participate in the study because the employer perceives the study to be advantageous to the organization. - Unions may encourage employees to participate with the expectation that "entitlements" may follow from study results - The research study's finding could affect an employee's pay, benefits or promotion potential.
Researcher access to confidential records adds to the vulnerability of workers who participate in workplace studies. Inappropriate release of identifiable private information could adversely affect a worker's retention of a job, insurance, or other employment related benefits. To avoid or minimize these risks, the study design must include adequate safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the information collected. A plan for the proper management of study data and records should clearly define:
All of the above: - Who will have access to the data. - If the study results, if any, will be included in the employee's personnel records - How the data will be collected and secured - If personal identifiers will be retained and used in the data analysis.
According to the federal regulations, which of the following studies meets the definition of research with human subjects? c
An experiment is proposed on the relationship between gender-related stereotypes in math and the subsequent performance by males and females on math tests.
The FDA regulations governing disclosure of individual COIs require:
Applicants submitting marketing applications to disclose financial COIs of researchers who conducted clinical studies
Identify the example of when situation and time are key to assessing risk of harm in a research study:
Asking women if they have had an abortion
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.
Data are made anonymous by
Destroying all identifiers connected to the data.
Which of the following is an example of how the principle of beneficence can be applied to a study employing human subjects?
Determining that the study has a maximization of benefits and a minimization of risks.
During an Institutional Review Board (IRB) meeting, any IRB member who may have a potential COI with a study under review should:
Disclose their potential COI and may answer questions, but recuse themselves from voting
Which of the following is an example of how the principle of beneficence is applied to a study involving human subjects?
Ensuring that risks are reasonable in relationship to anticipated benefits.
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.
The researcher's failure to protect research subjects from deductive disclosure is the primary ethical violation in which of the following studies?
Harvard "Tastes, Ties, and Time (T3)" study (2006-2009)" study
Which is true of inducements in research?
Inducements constitute an "undue influence" if they alter a potential subject's decision-making processes, such that they do not appropriately weigh the risk-benefit relationship of the research.
What is the term for management controls that are built in to a research study (for example, independent data analysis)?
Inherent controls
According to the Belmont Report, the moral requirement that there be fair outcomes in the selection of research subjects, expresses the principle of:
Justice.
Subjects with a serious illness may be at risk for exploitation because they may be desperate for a possible cure. This is an example of:
Medical Vulnerability
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 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
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.
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 has the LEAST potential to create group harm?
Phase 3 clinical trial of a new anticancer agent in middle-aged women diagnosed with breast cancer
Identify the following groups that are protected in the federal regulations (45 CFR 46), specifically in Subparts B, C, and D with additional protections:
Pregnant women, prisoners, children
In addition to pregnant women, fetuses, and neonates, another subpart of the HHS regulations provides additional protections for which of the following vulnerable populations?
Prisioners
As part of the consent process, the federal regulations require researchers to:
Provide potential subjects with information at the appropriate reading comprehension level
Additional safeguards that may be included in a social and behavioral study may include:
Remove all direct identifiers from the data as soon as possible.
The PHS regulations about financial conflict of interests require which party to disclose significant financial conflicts of interest?
Researcher
Which of the following are the three principles discussed in the Belmont Report?
Respect for Persons, Beneficence, Justice
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
In considering NBAC's analytic approach, an otherwise competent person who is acutely ill might be considered at especially high risk of harm for:
Situational cognitive vulnerability
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
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?
The Public Health Service Study of Untreated Syphilis
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
The peer review process can create conflicts of interest because the choice of who reviews a potentially publishable project may show:
There may be bias by the peer reviewer as to the area of research
According to the federal regulations, research is eligible for exemption, if:
The research falls into one of six categories of research activity described in the regulations
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
A researcher wants to conduct a secondary analysis using a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) database that was collected by the agency solely for surveillance purposes from 1996-2006. The researcher did not participate in the initial collection of the data. The database is publicly available. The database does not include any identifiers. The IRB makes a determination that the individuals whose records will be reviewed do not meet the federal definition of human subjects. Which of the following considerations was relevant to the IRB's determination that this activity does not constitute research with human subjects?
The researcher will not be interacting/intervening with subjects and the data has no identifiers.
As part of a research study, a physician plans to review medical records to explore factors related to 50 of her patients who require magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for clinical treatment. The physician will review the medical records, and write down the clinical indication for the scans, any existing injuries, current prescriptions, as well as other clinical data. The clinical indication for the scans and the other clinical data will be collected in the medical records for treatment purposes as part of standard clinical care. The physician will use a coding system to be able to identify the patient's information; however, the "key" to the coding system will be stored separately from the data in a locked cabinet that only she will have access to. Which of the following is true?
The study is human subject research which is eligible for expedited review.
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
When a research project includes the collection of biological samples, all planned future uses of the samples, identifiers, and the data obtained from the samples, must be fully explained to the research subject.
True
A HIPAA authorization has which of the following characteristics:
Uses "plain language" that the data subject can understand, similar to the requirement for an informed consent document.
Vulnerable persons are those who are less able to protect themselves than other persons in a given situation. The Common Rule (45 CFR 46, Subpart A) has specific requirements for the following vulnerable populations, except:
Workers
Under HIPAA, a "disclosure accounting" is required:
for all human subjects research that uses PHI without an authorization from the data subject, except for limited data sets.
Under HIPAA, "retrospective research" (a.k.a., data mining) on collections of PHI generally ...
is research, and so requires either an authorization or meeting one of the criteria for a waiver of authorization.
The Belmont Report's principle of respect for persons incorporates at least two ethical convictions: first, that individuals should be treated as autonomous agents, and second, that:
persons with diminished autonomy are entitled to protection
HIPAA's protections for health information used for research purposes...
supplement those of the Common Rule and FDA.
The HIPAA "minimum necessary" standard applies
to all human subjects research that uses PHI without an authorization from the data subject.
