Participant

Advancing the understanding of human behavior depends heavily on the contributions of research participants. Participants are also referred to as subjects, [Page 598]respondents, interviewees, focus group members, informants, and so on. Participants contribute data to research in a number of ways, such as through questionnaires, interviews, experiments, personal health records, narratives, focus groups, and direct observation.

Participants are usually considered to be individuals or groups who agree to take part in a research process. The agreement to participate in research bestows obligations on researchers to ensure that participants are treated in a manner that conforms to accepted ethical standards. In other words, participants should receive sufficient information to give free and informed consent prior to taking part in research. This includes information that describes the individual or group invited to participate, who is doing the research (e.g., researcher's name and affiliation), the nature and duration of participation required (e.g., interview, task performance), confidentiality safeguards, and any expected harms (e.g., distress or pain) or benefits (e.g., payment, new knowledge). Additionally, informed consent generally includes a statement that research participants may decline their participation or withdraw participation at any time, without penalty.

Some research participants (e.g., some children and mentally incompetent persons) lack the legal or mental capacity to give informed consent. In such circumstances, an authorized third party such as a parent or guardian should be involved in the informed consent process.

Creating opportunities for informed consent is not always possible or desirable, and this desire is often the case in naturalistic observation. When people know they are being observed, they may alter their behavior as a consequence of awareness that they are being observed, a concept known as reactivity. To avoid reactivity, participants in naturalistic research settings are usually unaware that they are being observed and therefore do not engage in an informed consent process. In these situations, it is incumbent on the researcher to be respectful of their privacy and dignity. For example, a researcher may decide to observe the interactions of consenting adults in a sex club, but it would violate participants' dignity if these adults were to be identified as a result.

Some research methodologies fundamentally transform the traditional relationship of researcher-as-observer and participant-as-observed. For example, in action research the researcher often becomes a resource to the participants who are being studied. It is the participants (often disadvantaged groups) who will assume significant control over the research process, including the defining of research questions and research designs, in order to achieve their goals. Given the reduced inequality in power relationships between research and participants in action research, the ethical obligations and requirements of informed consent for participants are also much more negotiable and often less clearly defined than in other types of research.