Posted by Wittgensteinz on November 8, 2008, at 17:53:19
In reply to Research project, posted by Dr. Bob on November 8, 2008, at 2:22:01
I'm not really sure what to make of this. It is easy to be over-reactive to unexpected information and the likelihood of change. I think the problem is the lack of information. I see that Dr. Bob has a dilemma - he must also respect the confidentiality of those participating in the study/research. If he announces that these people are in therapy or other personal details, might this also conflict with their confidentiality as participants? Obviously, we won't know who is a new member in the normal sense and who is participating as part of the study. However, if someone were to disclose that they were taking part in the study, and we had been told that all participants are schizophrenic or are CBT patients for example, then we would have knowledge about them that they had not disclosed to us.
I also see potential conflicts between us being informed about the study and the participants being informed about parameters that need to be kept hidden. Just as a study involving a medical trial requires a set group of participants to unknowingly take a placebo.
So the question - how to overcome these conflicts while respecting us, the existing members of this community? Perhaps Bob has no obligation to take this into account - afterall, he is the service-provider and we are choosing to take part and post to this public space. However, the effects of alienating the existing community will jeopardise the research he wants to conduct - with no posters, with no existing community, psychobabble will be no more. There is the risk that if enough of us are discontent with the planned study, that people might try to sabotage/boycott the role of Psychobabble in the research (I'm mentioning this as a foreseeable possible outcome rather than as a suggestion or threat).
A couple of points. I would like to ask exactly how and in what ways we will be contributing to your medical research by continuing to use the boards during the study? It seems to me that you are ethically obliged to do so. Of particular interest, how will the archives function in the research? Will they take on a certain role - could they potentially - and if this role is published in a paper, might they take on a different function than they have now as simply being the archives of a forum i.e. might they be singled out as a beneficial reading resource for therapy patients or trainee therapists. These are possibilities that people here could well become concerned about.
Secondly, and maybe this is persnickety but, as someone who has studied experimental psychology, it is basic knowledge that those who participant in our studies are not 'subjects' but 'participants'. The use of 'subjects' is considered out-dated and demeaning.
Witti
poster:Wittgensteinz
thread:861412
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20081003/msgs/861593.html