Learn Before
Case Study

Given this scenario, demonstrate your comprehension of ethical guidelines by explaining why an Institutional Review Board (IRB) would likely allow the researcher to dispense with informed consent.

Case context: A researcher wants to study social behavior by sitting outside a public building and observing whether people hold the door open for those behind them. The study does not recruit participants, does not record identifying information, and is conducted entirely in a public setting.

Question: Given this scenario, demonstrate your comprehension of ethical guidelines by explaining why an Institutional Review Board (IRB) would likely allow the researcher to dispense with informed consent.

Sample answer: The IRB would likely allow the researcher to dispense with informed consent because the study meets both required criteria. First, observing door-holding behavior is safe and not expected to cause any harm to the individuals. Second, the study is conducted entirely within the context of people's ordinary, everyday activities in a public space, without active recruitment or intervention.

Key points:

  • The door-holding study is not expected to cause any harm to the participants.
  • The observation of door-holding is part of people's ordinary, everyday activities.
  • The study is an unrecruited field experiment where obtaining consent is not required under low-risk, ordinary conditions.

Rubric: The response must explain: (1) why the door-holding observation is not expected to cause harm, (2) how the study fits the context of people's ordinary, everyday activities, and (3) recognize that the participants are unrecruited in a public space.

0

1

Updated 2026-05-26

Contributors are:

Who are from:

Tags

KPU

Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

Related