Reflection on Ethics in Case Studies

In Doug's video, he didn't really explain what his action research was nor did he explain exactly what he said in the letter he sent home with the students.  He says he included information about who he was, what his role was, and what his action research was and to whom it would be reported (the school and state), but I can't tell how much detail he included.  So I assume he gave full disclosure about his plans for the project, including data collection.  If he didn't, he should have.   He said the letters came home with "100% cooperation," but again I'm not sure what that means.  He should have included a very explicit opt-in question if he didn't.  I also assume, although it wasn't explicitly stated, that he went through the proper IRB approvals.

I think it's good that he discussed it with the students.  However, it sounds like he told them "how they were going to be involved" and did not necessarily give the students an explicit opt-in option.  He does discuss that the students were not "forced" to give any information or could share whatever information they wanted (again, it's difficult to understand not knowing much about what this research was!), so I assume that was good.  He also said that their identities were protected, so I think that was good as well.

In Jeanette's video, I realized that she was not doing any research with humans, per se, so I don't think she would have the same privacy or opt-in concerns as Doug did.  I don't understand why she didn't want to let the principal know what she was doing or anything about her findings.  Perhaps she wasn't finished and didn't want to appear that she accused the readings of being gender biased when they weren't.  But she should have been upfront with her thoughts and actions.  It turns out that (it appears) her research uncovered some interesting information that was good to share with the other teachers.  However, she should have conducted her research in the open and not try to hide it.  I really didn't understand that and, as a principal, I would be very concerned about a teacher who didn't want to tell me what he/she was doing!