controversies in poly

[peanutbutter87]

oh wow, so many people are actually replying, thanks everyone...this research is for academic purpose...I'm at UofT and writing an anthropology research paper on love, sex and marriage, specifically the working of polyamorous relationships. The questions are helpint me to get a sense of what makes people identify with polyamory, how it affects their lives, etc...If someone is not conformable with this, could you please let me know with me using this information, could you please let me know (it's obviously anonymous)...I wasn't sure I needed to do something else before I posted the questions

[peanutbutter87]

I posted a reply to your question but didn't directly reply to you...I'm not sure about the rules about posting questions online, I was told that it was ok because people feel more conformable like this

[hyperskeptic]

Originally Posted by peanutbutter87

this research is for academic purpose...I'm at UofT and writing an anthropology research paper on love, sex and marriage, specifically the working of polyamorous relationships....If someone is not conformable with this, could you please let me know with me using this information, could you please let me know (it's obviously anonymous)...I wasn't sure I needed to do something else before I posted the questions

Whether you need to do "something else" before posting questions like this depends on what you intend to do with the data you collect.

If you're writing a paper for a class, and your paper won't be used for any other purpose than to fulfill the requirements of a particular course, then you generally don't need to worry too much about formal procedures.

If you're writing a paper for publication, aimed at producing generalizable knowledge, then you really need to follow some sort of formal procedure. In the U.S., anyone at an institution that receives federal money who conducts research involving human subjects has to have a research protocol approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). The main requirement is to secure the informed consent of anyone who responds, which usually involves disclosing (whenever possible) the purpose of the study and any risks involved - including the risk of embarrassment or other social consequences.

I don't know what comparable requirements there might be in Canada, but you should probably find out.

There is a gray area in between work for a class and work for publication, say if you give a presentation in class of which a video is posted on YouTube . . .

[peanutbutter87]

It's a paper for a research course, not for publication or presentations that will go online.

Originally Posted by hyperskeptic

Whether you need to do "something else" before posting questions like this depends on what you intend to do with the data you collect.

If you're writing a paper for a class, and your paper won't be used for any other purpose than to fulfill the requirements of a particular course, then you generally don't need to worry to much about formal procedures.

If you're writing a paper for publication, aimed at producing generalizable knowledge, then you really need to follow some sort of formal procedure. In the U.S., anyone at an institution that receives federal money who conducts research involving human subjects has to have a research protocol approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). The main requirement is to secure the informed consent of anyone who responds, which usually involves disclosing (whenever possible) the purpose of the study and any risks involved - including the risk of embarrassment or other social consequences.

I don't know what comparable requirements there might be in Canada, but you should probably find out.

There is a gray area in between work for a class and work for publication, say if you give a presentation in class of which a video is posted on YouTube . . .

[peanutbutter87]

the research is approved by the university, so I do have forms of consent. I'm using these answers so I can situate myself. The official informants for the research are aware of consent forms.

Originally Posted by hyperskeptic

Whether you need to do "something else" before posting questions like this depends on what you intend to do with the data you collect.

If you're writing a paper for a class, and your paper won't be used for any other purpose than to fulfill the requirements of a particular course, then you generally don't need to worry to much about formal procedures.

If you're writing a paper for publication, aimed at producing generalizable knowledge, then you really need to follow some sort of formal procedure. In the U.S., anyone at an institution that receives federal money who conducts research involving human subjects has to have a research protocol approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). The main requirement is to secure the informed consent of anyone who responds, which usually involves disclosing (whenever possible) the purpose of the study and any risks involved - including the risk of embarrassment or other social consequences.

I don't know what comparable requirements there might be in Canada, but you should probably find out.

There is a gray area in between work for a class and work for publication, say if you give a presentation in class of which a video is posted on YouTube . . .

[hyperskeptic]

Originally Posted by peanutbutter87

the research is approved by the university, so I do have forms of consent. I'm using these answers so I can situate myself. The official informants for the research are aware of consent forms.

So, this is sort of a pilot study? Given that, and given that you're just doing this for a course, I guess there isn't much of an issue here. You were up-front that this was for a research project, though you might have also said more up front about what you plan to do with the data, etc.

(I teach ethics for a living, and I've done some research involving human subjects, so I tend to be annoyingly picky about these things.)

[peanutbutter87]

that's alright...it's been drilled into me for the last 2 months about how sensitive and careful I have to be since I am dealing with people's personal lives...this topic is completely new territory for me, so pretty interesting to see different views

Originally Posted by hyperskeptic

So, this is sort of a pilot study? Given that, and given that you're just doing this for a course, I guess there isn't much of an issue here. You were up-front that this was for a research project, though you might have also said more up front about what you plan to do with the data, etc.

(I teach ethics for a living, and I've done some research involving human subjects, so I tend to be annoyingly picky about these things.)