A researcher is consolidating participant data for a medical research presentation.
Which would not be acceptable to include?
Participant age ranges
Participant states of residence
Years during which participants were studied
Coded research data
Participant email addresses
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
Correct Answer: Participant email addresses
Explanation:
When consolidating participant data for a medical research presentation, it is critical to adhere to ethical guidelines and protect participant privacy in compliance with regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the United States or similar privacy laws worldwide. Including participant email addresses in the presentation would not be acceptable, as it directly identifies individuals and violates their confidentiality. Here’s why this is the case:
- Personal Identifiable Information (PII): Participant email addresses are considered Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which can uniquely identify a person. Sharing such information risks exposing participants to privacy breaches, phishing, or other forms of unauthorized contact.
- Ethical Standards: Ethical research requires the confidentiality of participants to be maintained. This is often explicitly agreed upon in the informed consent process. Including email addresses breaches the trust participants place in researchers to safeguard their information.
- Compliance with Privacy Laws: Many privacy regulations (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR) prohibit sharing identifiable information without explicit consent. Email addresses fall into this category, and sharing them could result in legal consequences for the researcher and their institution.
- Irrelevance to the Presentation: Participant email addresses are not scientifically relevant to the findings of a medical research presentation. Including such information does not add value to the study and serves no research purpose.
Acceptable Data:
- Age ranges: These are anonymized and aggregate data that provide demographic context without identifying individuals.
- States of residence: If reported in aggregate, this does not typically identify participants.
- Study years: These are purely contextual and non-identifying.
- Coded data: Research data encoded to remove direct identifiers can be included as long as it adheres to privacy guidelines.
By excluding email addresses, the researcher ensures ethical compliance and prioritizes participant confidentiality.