Published on Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning clearinghouse
Research Standards and Protection of Human Subjects
Source: RMC Research Corporation, October 2002
Introduction
Anyone conducting service-learning research or evaluation should be aware of the research standards and guidance for protection of human subjects. The following provides a brief summary and where to go for additional information.
Standards for Quality Evaluation
The Joint Committee on Standards for Education Evaluation (1994) developed standards for evaluation that we believe must be met for the evaluation to have integrity and usefulness. Briefly, these standards include the following:
Utility Standards
Ensures that the evaluation will meet the needs of the clients.
These include identifying stakeholders; being responsive to needs
and interests; performing work with integrity and trustworthiness;
carefully describing the perspectives, procedures and rationale for
data collection and interpretation; clearly describing programs and
their contexts and purposes; disseminating information in a timely
fashion; and encouraging follow through so that the information is
used to improve programs.
Feasibility Standards
Ensures that the evaluation will be realistic, prudent,
diplomatic and efficient. Feasibility standards include
practicality, political viability and cost effectiveness.
Propriety Standards
Ensures that the evaluation is conducted legally, ethically and
respectfully, with due regard to those involved in the evaluation
and those affected by it. These include a service orientation that
explicitly recognizes the obligation to be open with all
participants; formal agreements about what is to be done, how, by
whom and when; protecting the rights of human subjects; keeping
human interactions positive and non-threatening; being fair in all
data collection and interpretation; disclosing findings to all
interested parties; dealing with any conflicts of interest in a
forthright manner, being ethically responsible; and maintaining
fiscal responsibility and integrity so that expenditures are
accounted for and appropriate.
Ensures that the evaluation will reveal and convey technically adequate information. These include program documentation, context analysis, detailed explanations of purposes and procedures, defensible information sources, valid and reliable information, systematic review of data, justified conclusions, impartial reporting, and reflection on the evaluation process itself to uncover any errors, flaws, alternative interpretations and explanations, and the need for more information.
For more information on the Joint Committee on Standards for Education Evaluation, visit their website.
Protection of Human Subjects in Research
Researchers should be aware that there are ethical guidelines for the protection of human subjects in research. To receive copies of the Department of Education's Regulations Governing the Protection of Human Subjects in Research, please call (202) 205-0667 or visit the U.S. Department of Education's Protection of Human Subjects in Research website.
The following websites provide more information on ethical guidelines for the protection of human subjects in research.
Ethical Standards of the American Educational Research Association
The Intelligent Scholar's Guide to the Use of Human Subjects in Research
Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
© 2002 Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.
Photocopying for nonprofit educational purposes is permitted.
Suggested Citation:
RMC Research Corporation. (2002). Research Standards and Protection of Human Subjects. Scotts Valley, CA: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. Retrieved from
http://www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/tribal_facts/standards/
