Preparation for Examination

Look at this history of the Tuskeegee Experiment, a terrible violation of human rights

The United States federeal government and the national governments of many other nations requires that all research involving human subjects be reviewed and approved by an accreditted "ethics board". Human subjects research is defined broadly and essentially includes anything in which one person asks another person for information about themselvs -- their person, their life experiences, their ideas, their opinions, their knowledge, their assessments of something -- pretty much anything any social science research will cover constitutes human subject research.. You may have believed that such approval is required only if you "plan to publish" the information. That is NOT TRUE. Research includes, for example, needs assessments, project evaluation, "surveys," interviews, direct observation of what people do, and testing of any type whether conducted in person, on the telephone, or on the internet (on-line surveys, for example). The U.S. federal government requires such approval even when the research will be conducted in another country and even when that country is the researcher's country of residence and/or citizenship. Most federal agencies require that any proposal for funding in which these kinds of activities will occur must secure approval for the research before funds are released -- even when the project has been approved and funded.

In order to apply for IRB approval at the University of Florida, you must complete an on-line training program. You cannot submit a request for IRB approval, nor can your professor include you in any research or project that will involve human subjects, until you can show proof of this training. Therefore, one requirement for this course is for you to complete the certification training at the University of Florida and provide proof of completion. You must get a score of at least 80% on the test to meet this requirement (the minimum passing score). To complete the training, go to the IRB Website. Once there, click on Required Training Requirements. Note that if you are using your own computer or if you are not on campus (even if you are using a UF computer), you will have to activate your VPN connection to login to my.ufl for the training.

Post a copy of your test score (screen capture or scan of a print-out of the results) under Assignments -- Proof of Ethics Training.