Confidentiality is becoming increasingly hard to maintain. The best safeguard is to be well-informed about the law, understand the limits to confidentiality, have a well formed consent agreement, and understand techniques that protect data and preserve the participant s anonymity and privacy. The trusting relationship between the researcher and participants, established during the informed consent process, should be maintained as the research unfolds. The research team should continue to foster trust by treating research participants and research assistants as respected partners in the research. Safety of Participants Federal regulations require that When appropriate, the research plan makes adequate provision for monitoring data collected to ensure safety of subjects.
Unintended harms can occur during research.
Ongoing monitoring may be necessary to evaluate this. Aside from obvious illness or injury, adverse reactions can take the form of shame, anxiety, embarrassment, or an actual pain or distress reaction to a physical stressor One mitigation response may be to debrief participants at the end of a study, providing them with appropriate reassurances and information about normal reactions Debriefing One of the benefits to participants in research is an educational one. Researchers generally inform participants at the end of a study why it was conducted and how the results fit into what is already known. A debriefing session continues the information and education process for both the researcher and the participant. Establishing and maintaining trust and monitoring the safety of research participants is an ongoing process during research.