Research ethics: Data security & schools

Ross Woods, Rev. 2022

Data security

Security protocols for information is integral to maintaining privacy of all concerned.

1. How will data be kept secure? Describe proposed security provisions for protecting research data during initial data collection, data transfer, and archiving (e.g., privacy envelopes, password protection, locks).
2. What will you do with it in the end? (Usually destroyed or archived.)
3. Get signed forms containing identifying information:
1. How will you keep the forms secure?
2. What will you do with them in the end? (Usually destroyed or archived.)
3. Although the procedure should be reported as part of ethical requirements, the contents may not appear in the dissertation or doctoral study.

Schools

If you do research in a school, you need to minimize disruption and protect children, students, staff, and parents.

If you use de-identified data, could participants be re-identified? The principles are as follows:

1. When doing research inside a very narrowly defined population, the narrow definition might be enough to identify individual research participants.
2. When doing research inside an organization, you still need to maintain the confidentiality of individual research participants. The name of the organization might be enough to enable readers to identify individuals. Do not give the name of the organization if it will enable readers to identify individual research participants.

Example 1
You want to study small rural schools, and your research will include students in fifth grade at Smalltown Elementary School. However this little school has only seven students in fifth grade. If you identify the school, readers could identify students, so you cannot name the school.

Example 2
You want to study large urban high schools, and your research will include all students in Bigtown High School. This school has 15,000 students, so you could name the school. The size of the population maintains the anonymity of individual students.