Citi Training

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.

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

NBAC proposed a concept of vulnerability in research based on features of potential subjects or of their situation. Which of the following was not included as possibly leading to vulnerability?

High potential for individual benefit from participating in research

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.

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 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

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

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

The Belmont principle of beneficence requires that:

Potential benefits justify the risks of harm.

The researcher's failure to protect research subjects from deductive disclosure is the primary ethical violation in which of the following studies?

"Tastes, Ties, and Time (T3)" study (2006-2009)

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 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.

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.

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

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Risk of harm in social and behavioral sciences generally fall in three categories, which are:

Invasion of privacy, breach of confidentiality, and study procedures

A researcher conducting behavioral research collects individually identifiable sensitive information about illicit drug use and other illegal behaviors by surveying college students. One of the subjects is in an automobile accident two weeks after participating in the research study. Is this an example of an unanticipated problem that requires reporting to the IRB?

No, this does not need to be reported because it was assessed by the researcher as unrelated to the research study.

If disclosure of a subject's involvement in a specific research study can be potentially harmful to the subject, and the consent form is the only record linking the subject to the research, which of the following would be most helpful:

Obtain a waiver of documentation of informed consent.

The primary purpose of a Certificate of Confidentiality is to:

Protect identifiable research information from compelled disclosure.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

A subject participates in a drug study because treatment is available at no or reduced cost, and he could not otherwise afford it. This is an example of:

Economic vulnerability

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

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.

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

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