Читать книгу 100 Questions (and Answers) About Research Ethics - Emily E. Anderson - Страница 27

The term “therapeutic misconception” is used to describe when research participants incorrectly assume that they will directly benefit from taking part in a research study. However, the primary purpose of research is to gather generalizable knowledge to help people in the future; direct benefits cannot be assumed. The therapeutic misconception can occur if a participant does not fully understand the purpose of the research, or does not understand the differences between research and services. Individuals participating in research may incorrectly believe that the intervention or program being evaluated in a research study already has an evidence base to support its use. They may not realize that they are being asked to participate in research in order to gather needed evidence on whether the intervention works—or does not work.

Although the term was conceived of within the context of clinical research, therapeutic misconception can occur in social and behavioral sciences research. Researchers should be particularly aware of the potential for such misunderstanding when conducting research on behavioral or educational interventions. People tend to assume that any services offered are already proven to help. When recruiting for an intervention study, it is especially important to emphasize that you do not yet know if the intervention being offered will achieve the desired results.

Participants may also misunderstand the purpose of the research in nonexperimental studies that use surveys or interviews. For example, individuals might confuse a request to take a survey about their smoking habits with an offer to participate in a program designed to help them quit. Being asked to take part in an in-depth qualitative interview after a natural disaster could be mistaken for an offer of counseling or other mental health services. The potential for such conflation is particularly strong if the study is being conducted by a service provider or in collaboration with an agency that provides direct services.

The best way to limit potential misconceptions about research is to provide participants with clear information about the purpose and benefits of the research during the recruitment and informed consent process. For example, to explain the study purpose, you can include straightforward statements such as, “The purpose of the study is to find out if this program can help students improve their reading scores. We do not know if this program is better or worse than the current reading program offered. We are doing the research to answer this question.” Regarding benefits, you can include statements such as, “You will not receive any direct benefit from taking part in this research. However, if we find out that the program works, it can be offered to students in the future.”

More questions? See #11, #14, and #40.