Concise Summary

No set of rigid rules can ever capture the subtlety of ethical situations that arise. The following 'rules of thumb' are intended as a general guide. Seeing where your research goes beyond these guides should provide helpful insight into areas that need special attention.

1. You may freely quote and analyze online information without consent if:
   • It is officially, publicly archived.
   • No password is required for archive access.
   • No site policy prohibits it.
   • The topic is not highly sensitive.
2. For everything else not covered by 1, you typically need consent.
3. The process of requesting consent must not disrupt normal group activity.
   • Note that in real-time chatrooms:
     • The process of requesting consent is often perceived as disruptive by participants.
     • When participants are made aware that their chat is being recorded, they often react with anger. (Try connecting to a chatroom and typing "I am recording this for research purposes." You will usually be greeted with anger and often booted out.)
   • It is sometimes permissible to do research which displeases subjects. However, subjects' perceptions are a factor for IRBs to weigh carefully in considering such a study.
4. When recording material that would otherwise be ephemeral, consideration should be given to whether the act of recording potentially creates risks for subjects.
   • If a study is likely to record illegal or socially undesirable activity, a certificate of confidentiality should be obtained.
   • Records of sexual activity may be vulnerable to subpoena in divorce cases.
5. Consent may be obtained electronically if:
   • Subjects are 18-years-of age or older.
   • The online consent form steps people through each sub-element, one at a time.
   • The risks to subjects are low.
   • Otherwise, consent must be obtained with a signature on paper--returned to the researchers via surface mail or fax.
   • To do research involving minors and others not allowed to consent for themselves, consent is obtained from the parent or legal guardian and assent from the individual.
     • Parental consent may be obtained on paper (sent to the researcher via paper mail or fax) or by telephone if the research is low risk.
     • Parental consent should be obtained in a face to face to interview with the parent/guardian if the research is not low risk.
6. Before the start of a study, the researchers and IRB must decide whether subjects' identities will be disguised, and if so to what degree.
   • Note that pseudonyms function similarly to real names, and should be treated in the same way one treats real names
     • Because:
       • They are often de facto traceable to real names.
       • People care about the reputation of their pseudonyms.
       • In other words, they function for most purposes just like real names, and should be treated the same way.
   • Levels of disguising:
     1. No disguise
        
        • The Internet is rather like a playground for amateur artists. In many cases, people deserve credit for their creative work.
        • Pseudonyms and real names may be used with permission of the individual.
        • The individual's claim to copyright over the work is respected.
        • The real author of the work is verified. (Some work may be copied or highly derivative, meaning credit belongs to the original author.)
        • The researcher should omit details that would be harmful to the subject if revealed.
          • Example: Suppose you are studying artwork posted online, and discover that one of the most prolific artists rarely leaves his house and has few friends, devoting all his time to online art. You probably should omit that from the written account, even if it significantly contributes to your reader's understanding of the work being studied.
     2. Light disguise
        • The group is named.
        • Pseudonyms and some other identifiying details (place names, organizational and institutional names, etc.) are changed.
        • Verbatim quotes may be used, even if they could be used to identify an individual.
        • Group members themselves may be able to guess who is being discussed.
        • An outsider could probably figure out who is who with a little investigation.
        • Details that are harmful to individuals should be omitted.
          • Example: the author of these guidelines, Amy Bruckman, used light disguise in her study of MOOSE Crossing, the educational online environment for kids she created. While sensitive details (for example a particular child's difficulties in school) would have enriched the written accounts of learning on the site, they were omitted.
     3. Moderate disguise
        • A compromise position is chosen, incorporating some features of light disguise and some of complete disguise, as appropriate to the situation.
        • Details of the specific compromise are reviewed by the researcher's IRB.
     4. Complete disguise
        • The group is not named.
        • Pseudonyms and other identifying details are changed.
        • Verbatim quotes are not used if a search mechanism could link those quotes to the person in question.
        • Some false details may be deliberately introduced.
          • For example, if you are studying a support site for a chronic disease, you might change the disease in published accounts.
        • A subject might or might not recognize themself.
        • No one else would recognize the subject.
        • Someone deliberately seeking to find a subject's identity would be unable to do so.
        • Details that would be harmful to the subject if disclosed may be revealed.

Discussion

This document assumes that you are already familiar with the basic requirements of human subjects research.

These guidelines represent a strict interpretation of what is ethical. Many people will find looser standards acceptable. Even if you prefer a much looser standard, I hope you will find this document useful: you can compare your plans to this strict interpretation to find places in your plan that need special attention. So instead of thinking, "beyond this you may not proceed," many people may think instead "beyond this, proceed with caution."

These guidelines do not address the steps one needs to take to assure that research is accurate. Use of online media introduces new risks of error, for example indiscriminate use of low-quality or erroneous information found online, errors of sampling method, etc. Taking reasonable steps to prevent error is also an ethical obligation of researchers, but is beyond the scope of this document.

Situated Research

Research Integrity Versus Ethical Obligations

Consent from Whom?

"Official" Archives

The point of this language is try to articulate how we as researchers can determine when members of a list have a reasonable expectation that their communication is private, and when there is no such expectation.

"Low Risk"

Hate Speech

Research on Chatrooms

Changing Risk Levels

Other Guidelines