[Air-L] Public/ Private

[Radhika Gajjala]

On Aug 13, 2007, at 3:10 PM, Asa Rosenberg wrote:

> I'd like to ask then a sort of meta question here.
> I am working with internet research ethics, particularly with  
> regards to 3D
> virtual environments (SL) but also about how/if ethics may differ  
> depending
> on application and other contextual factors.
> If I wanted to analyze this discussion on research ethics that has  
> been
> going on on this list,
> what would you suggest would be the right way to approach the issue of
> consent?
>
> While this list is publicly archived (at
> http://listserv.aoir.org/pipermail/air-l-aoir.org/)
> some people here have explicitly claimed that might not be a  
> sufficient
> requirement to use data without consent.


but nowhere on the list description does it say that list messages  
are "private"?

r
>
> This ties in to a problem I have pondered already before. If you  
> disagree
> with your research participants wether not getting consent or not  
> would be
> harmful, is it your word or theirs that count? (An odd, but authentic
> example: You research publicly posted material, political blogs for  
> example,
> and encounter a blog that has a post that says they hate  
> researchers who
> dont get consent).
>
> It seems that when we say that "the ground rule is that if you post  
> it on
> the web its public" we mean that as a truth that disqualifies the
> expectations and wishes of some people. Do we follow the  
> participants wishes
> against what we think is better knowledge or do we own up to the  
> fact that
> research sometimes involves dominance?
>
> -asa
>
>
> -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
> Fran: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
> [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org]For Charlie Balch
> Skickat: den 13 augusti 2007 20:11
> Till: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> Amne: Re: [Air-L] Public/ Private
>
>
> It should be noted that the act of deleting internet content does  
> not remove
> its availability. Sites like http://archive.org claim to record the  
> entire
> internet history and provide free access and comparisons of content  
> changes.
>
> I've occasionally explored the evolution of content using  
> archive.org (I've
> no association other than an occasional user). My interest has  
> mostly been
> how business and government sites change but the possibility of  
> looking at
> revisionist blogs is a fascinating research opportunity.
>
> I've also written software that allows me to "scrape" or aggregate  
> public
> information when the owners would not or could not provide the  
> database for
> analysis. I've not published the information collected from my  
> scrapes for a
> variety of reasons. Mostly because I'm lazy and the value of self- 
> selected
> responses to surveys are very questionable.
>
> Then again, I suspect I could find "serious flaws" in almost *any*  
> research
> design. I continue to be amazed that research provides useful results
> despite how easy it is to find errors in the research process.
>
> As a bottom line, if you post it on the net, it is public. The  
> publisher
> might regret their post but that does not make it private. Yes,  
> additional
> exposure might bring some greater harm to the poster but the poster  
> has
> brought it upon themselves.
>
> IRBs should focus on research where an *intervention* might cause the
> participant harm.
>
> Charlie Balch Me.D, MBA, Ph.D yada yada
> professor of Computer Information Systems
> Arizona Western College
> http://charlie.balch.org
>
>
>
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