| | 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. |
| | | Accuracy Standards |
| | | 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 |
| | | The Belmont Report - Ethical Principles and
Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects in
Research |
| | | Office
of Human Research Protections (OHRP), U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services |
