A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Ethical challenge of student-participants using a research survey for giving course feedback
Authors: Siipi, Helena; Uusitalo, Susanne
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Discover Education
Journal name in source: Discover Education
Article number: 216
Volume: 3
eISSN: 2731-5525
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00254-z(external)
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00254-z(external)
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/477424092(external)
Conducting research with one’s students as participants can have various challenges. We describe one particular challenge we have encountered when conducting research surveys with participants who had been students of a doctoral course taught by us. Some participants gave course feedback in the research. This may indicate blurring of the roles of student and research participant. Blurring is problematic from the perspectives of research ethics and research integrity. Problems may arise concerning voluntariness, confidentiality and the quality of data. We suggest possible ways of preventing this blurring. These concern (1) the timing of the research in relation to the course, (2) information for the participants, (3) the recruitment practice and (4) the format of the survey questions.
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Funding information in the publication:
This contribution was written in the context of a research project that received funding from the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland (Grant Number 335186) and the the Research Council of Finland (Profi 7 352788).