Ethical Considerations in Paid Research Participation
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Ethical Considerations in Paid Research Participation
The two research approaches that we have shared differ tremendously in the way they invite people, the incentives, and the ethical concerns that may be associated. The first method involves the researcher from the university faculty involving the students in a 4-hour-long experiment, which the students will do at the end of the semester during rush hour. The motivation is five extra credit points (Różyńska, 2022). The ethical concerns here may be the possible influence and coercion as students might be asked to participate to get a good grade, even if the task is too hard. With these questions also comes the issue of fairness because every student may not have an equal opportunity to participate and earn extra credit. Moreover, doubts exist about its educational value and the need for the extra credit reward.
The next approach turns to paid online crowdsourcing to recruit subjects, remunerating $0.50 to the participant only if the feedback provided by the researcher meets the quality requirements. Oppressive problems associated with captive audience situations, such as students in the first approach, can be omitted as in the second approach, participants can choose if the compensation is worth their time. In contrast, other ethical questions become relevant. A low pay rate could be considered exploitation and might lead to the participants pool being biased towards those in lower socioeconomic backgrounds (Różyńska, 2022). The making of payment dependent on subjective quality assessment does not look right. In both instances, the time required is high, and the reward seems inappropriate. However, the surveys also create selection bias dilemmas. Essentially, the two choices have pros and cons, and thus, none is entirely ethical. Researchers must carefully consider the incentives and physical and mental efforts of participants. Institutional review boards should give strict attention to this type of research.
References
Różyńska, J. (2022). The ethical anatomy of payment for research participants. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 25(3), 449–464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-022-10092-1