|
|
|
Ethics for Evaluations
Ethical Principles for Institutional Surveys
Introduction
In order to manage and improve its
activities, services and processes,
Monash
University
encourages the collection, analysis and use of data in order to gauge
performance and to effect improvement. Quality
at Monash: Values and Principles outlines the Monash approach to quality
as encompassing: planning, acting, evaluating and improving.
Evaluation includes short-term, formative and less formal monitoring
and longer-term, summative and formal review.
Monitoring, review and planning often involve the use of
questionnaire and survey information collected from students, staff and
others.
Monash
University
is committed to acting ethically in the collection, analysis and reporting
of such information.
Voluntary Participation
The collection of institutional
survey data is an integral, normal and important aspect of the functioning
of the university. For example, in terms of ‘teaching’, the act of a
teacher delivering a lecture to a class is part of the process of teaching,
which also includes planning of the teaching activity (both the content and
process), the formal approval necessary for the programme to be delivered,
the development and marshalling of materials and resources, delivery (which
may be face-to-face, at a distance, or variants of both), monitoring for
formative purposes, in order to ascertain whether the educational programme
is successfully achieving its objectives, and formal review by external
people to provide both summative and formative accounts of its quality.
Evaluation of teaching is therefore an integral part of teaching and
is a vital element in effecting both quality assurance and improvement.
There is an argument, therefore,
that the evaluation of teaching and similar institutional requirements
should be compulsory. Also,
their status as being classified as ‘non-research’ and not requiring the
approval of SCERH (see below), adds to this argument.
On balance, however, attempting to enforce the compulsory completion
of such surveys is likely to be counter productive and it is for this reason
that surveys such as those involving the evaluation of teaching, are treated
as being voluntary. While the
voluntary nature of participation in a survey should be made clear in a
classroom situation, collection of such data in the classroom situation for
approved institutional purposes is entirely appropriate.
Ethical Principles
Monash University’s Standing
Committee on Ethics in Research involving Humans (SCERH) follows the
National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) in defining
approved institutional surveys as being outside the scope of ‘research’
and therefore not needing SCERH approval.
However, ethical principles must still be applied with regard to
institutional surveys and data gathering, as follows.
- Honest
and ethical conduct in data gathering and dissemination and
communication of results.
- Regard
for the welfare, rights, beliefs, perceptions, customs and cultural
heritage of individuals.
- No
harm or discomfort to participants.
- Participants
are provided with information about the purpose, methods, demands and
possible outcomes (including use and publication of results).
- Participation
is voluntary and not subject to coercion.
Refusal to participate in or later withdrawal will not be
questioned nor result in discrimination or penalty.
- Any
inducement for completion of an institutional survey must be approved by
a senior university officer (eg DV-C, Dean, Divisional Director).
- Summary
results are normally published for the information of participants.
- Specific
agreements made with participants are fulfilled.
- Privacy,
confidentiality and cultural sensitivities of participants are
respected. In particular, compliance with National Privacy Principle 2.1
(use and disclosure of information) is observed.
- Activities
involving deception of, concealment of the purposes of the study form,
or covert observation of identifiable participants are not undertaken.
- Methodology
and data gathering is designed by appropriately skilled staff.
|
