Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Chapter 3: Ethics: What Are My Responsibilities as a
Researcher?
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Which one of the following is typically TRUE of informed consent forms?
a. explains the nature of the study
b. explains the right of the researcher to stop participants from leaving the study
c. explains the right of the research to ban access the results of the study
d. explains the right of participants to be paid for participating in the study
2. Writing a literature review can have ethical implications in research owned by
other people/companies. This is also known as ______.
a. use of proprietary information
b. use of secondary sources
c. use of chronology
d. issues of confidentiality
3. The Nuremberg Code was the first international code to emphasize that
research participants must ______.
a. consent to participate in the research
b. be adults
c. be guaranteed confidentiality
d. be guaranteed anonymity
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
4. The main points of the Declaration of Helsinki do not include ______.
a. research protocols reviewed by an independent committee
b. research conducted by qualified individuals
c. research risks not exceeding the benefits
d. use of deception
5. Which are the three basic principles set out by the Belmont Report with regard
to protection of human research subjects?
a. respect for persons, appropriate compensation, and justice
b. respect for persons, appropriate compensation, and beneficence
c. appropriate compensation, random selection, and justice
d. respect for persons, beneficence, and justice
6. In the United States, standards and regulations covering human subjects
research are shared by several federal agencies. These shared standards are
known as the ______.
a. Belmont Report
b. Common Rule
c. Declaration of Helsinki
d. Declaration of Human Rights
7. ______ means that the researcher will not release any information that
identifies participants even if they know what information each participant
provided them.
a. Confidentiality
b. Anonymity
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
c. Privacy
d. Personal safety
8. ______ consists of qualified researchers with similar interests assessing each
other’s work.
a. Utilitarianism
b. The Belmont Report
c. IRB review
d. Peer review
9. A study in which the researcher observes people’s behavior without them
being aware of it is also known as ______.
a. unobtrusive measures
b. control group
c. confederates study
d. survey research
10. Researchers’ ethical responsibilities to participants includes which of the
following?
a. protecting confidentiality but not anonymity of participants
b. avoiding debriefing participants when using deception
c. gaining informed consent
d. using participants’ real names in the study
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
11. Which ethical position argues that a behavior is valid if you’re willing to apply
it universally?
a. Judeo-Christian perspective
b. categorical imperative
c. utilitarianism
d. the veil of ignorance
True/False
1. The “Common Rule” refers to standards known as the Federal Policy for the
Protection of Human Subjects.
2. The basic assumption of peer review is that the people best equipped to
evaluate your work and its impact on human research participants are
appropriately qualified people doing similar work to your own.
3. A Judeo-Christian test of ethical behavior is “would you be willing to be a
participant in your research study yourself?”
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
4. The categorical imperative ethic proposes that a behavior is valid if you are
willing to see it applied as a universal rule.
5. The principle of utilitarianism argues for the greatest good for the greatest
number.
6. The “Veil of Ignorance” approach asks us to take a dispassionate approach,
reviewing all sides of a decision equally.
7. A major problem with Internet research is establishing the authenticity of
individuals in cyberspace.
8. It is generally safe to assume that individuals on the Internet are who they say
they are.
9. Very little Internet content is subject to copyright law.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
10. Web survey software guarantees anonymity to Internet survey respondents.
11. Confederates are participants who have been briefed to act in a certain way,
essentially “faking it” and deceiving other participants.
12. When a researcher uses unobtrusive measures, it means the participants
don’t know they’re being observed.
13. Using deception in research is always unethical.
14. Using deception in research is acceptable even if you don’t notify the
participants after the study is concluded.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
15. A research study that finds nothing is an invalid study.
16. Confidentiality and anonymity mean the same thing.
17. When you promise your participants confidentiality, it means while you can
identify them as participants, you will not release that information to other people.
18. When your participants are anonymous, nobody can identify who they are,
even the researcher.
19. Because research studies need a variety of participants, it’s acceptable to
pressure people to participate, even those who have said they don’t want to.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
20. Although a research study only has volunteers who are students, it’s
acceptable to generalize to all people.
21. Once participants sign consent forms, they’re required to participate in the
research study.
22. It is not necessary to explain to readers that deception was used in your
research report.
23. Participants have a right to access the results of the study.
24. Articles that do not support your argument should still be included in the
literature review.
25. Using summary (secondary), article gets you the same information as using
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
primary (original) sources.
26. Since research studies are written in scholarly style, it’s appropriate for the
informed consent documents to be in scholarly style.
27. For some studies, the informed consent document will need to be in a
language other than English.
28. Plagiarism is an unethical representation of others’ work as your own.
29. Plagiarism can become a copyright issue in the case of proprietary research.
30. Informant, collaborator, and participant can all mean the same thing in
research studies.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
31. Low-risk studies online require minimal identity verification.
32. High-risk studies online require minimal identity verification.
33. An important privacy issue in online research is cross-nation data storage.
Essay
1. Explain the different connotations of the following terms for the people in your
research: subject, respondent, informant, and collaborator.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
2. Identify and explain the main ethical responsibilities of communication
researchers toward their research participants.
3. Identify the types of human communication research that might potentially
cause distress to research participants.
4. Identify and explain two main points of the 1948 Nuremberg Code.
5. Identify and explain the main points of the Declaration of Helsinki.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
6. The three key principles of the Belmont Report are respect for persons,
beneficence, and justice. Explain what, in practice, each of these means.
7. Discuss, with examples, whether deceiving participants in a research project is
ever justifiable.
8. Briefly explain what is meant by the term “peer review.”
9. What is the difference between anonymity and confidentiality? How is it
relevant for your participants?
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
10. What is the purpose of the IRB?
11. Explain the difference between the principle of utilitarianism and the
categorical imperative in ethical positions.
12. Explain the steps involved in getting informed consent from participants.
13. Explain the ethical issues related to identifying people in research on the
Internet.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
14. Describe the three-step process for ethical research with social media.