Ready access to data on the web has made the Internet an increasingly
popular research medium for social and behavioral scientists and other
researchers seeking to study the dynamics of human interactions and analyze
the impact of the Internet on behavior. However, certain features of online
research introduce concerns about the adequacy of traditional policies
governing human subjects research. For example, the blurred distinction
between public and private domains on the web raises questions regarding
requirements for informed consent and the protection of subject privacy
and confidentiality.
In 1999, a workshop convened by the AAAS Program on Scientific Freedom,
Responsibility and Law examined the ethics surrounding Internet research
involving human subjects. A recommendation
of the workshop was to review systematically the existing literature
to understand better the nature of the research currently being conducted.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, AAAS is undertaking
a follow-up project to review and catalogue this literature. This review
will identify social and behavioral science literature-published or unpublished-using
human subjects in order to explore the ethical issues raised, whether
or not explicitly raised by the researcher(s), how the investigators dealt
with those issues, and what the implications are for protecting human
subjects in Internet research. A final product will report on the project's
principal findings and identify gaps in the literature that might warrant
further research.
The project aims to help researchers, their institutions, policy makers,
and those who participate in online research by identifying the range
of methods and applications used in such research with human subjects,
the ethical issues raised by use of those methods and applications, and
the measures taken by researchers to minimize ethical concerns. An advisory
committee composed of active online researchers, ethicists, and persons
well versed in policy for human research protection will assist project
staff in conducting the review.
Amy Bruckman
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology
Melinda Bier
Sanford McDonnell Character Education Center
University of Missouri - St. Louis
Gary Ellis
Congressional Research Service
Library of Congress
Charles Ess
Interdisciplinary Studies Center
Drury University
John Gardenier
U.S. National Center for Health Statistics
Laura Gurak
Rhetoric Department
University of Minnesota
Philip Howard
Department of Sociology
Northwestern University
Arthur Lupia
Department of Political Science
University of Michigan
Joan Sieber, ex officio
Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science & Technology Program
National Science Foundation
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