Ethics of the Cybermind Gender Project

This research is being carried out under the auspices of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). The University has stringent requirements in favour of ethical research involving humans.

The ethics guidelines which researchers have to abide by are explained fully at:

http://www.uts.edu.au/research/policies/ethics.html

The complete submission made to the Ethics Committee for this project (all 30+ pages) maybe accessed at:

http://geocities.datacellar.net/jpmarshall.geo/cybermind/gender/ethicsform01.rtf

In summary the following points can be emphasised about this particular project:

  • The research must not be intrusive or disruptive.
  • Active participation will be entirely voluntary. People have the right to opt out of the research should they wish to do so, at any stage.
  • Confidentiality will be preserved.
  • It must not cause any form of harm to participants and subjects, or to those who might be affected by the results of the research.
    Any identifiable reference to any person's activities or words must be made with that person's permission. People have a right to refuse permission at any time, without giving a reason.
  • The results of all work shall be submitted to members of Cybermind for their comments, for their requests for editing and change, before it is displayed publicly. People have a right to challenge the findings of the project. In fact such challenges are encouraged as constituting part of the project
  • People have the right to have their words and actions acknowledged in any format they choose.
  • Data relevant to the project will be stored with coded identification, so that people without the code will not be able to attribute authorship to information.
  • Data will be kept for a minimum of five years and then may be disposed of carefully. ie hard disks and other storage media destroyed, not simply thrown away.
  • The research must not, and will not, involve children.
    • The main conductor of the research, jonathan marshall, is always open to further suggestions on matters of ethical research. He may be contacted at:

    jpmarshall.geo@[32].yahoo.com or
    jon.marshall@[32]uts.edu.au (in both cases please remove the [32])

    Room 416 Bon Marche Building
    University of Technology
    Broadway
    Sydney 2007
    Australia

    Phn 9514 2346

    Complaints

    If a person feels they are not being treated fairly, or have any reservations about the research, and they have failed to gain satisfaction from the researcher, then they are requested to contact the Research Ethics Officer of UTS, Susanna Davis, to express their complaint. Any complaint you make will be treated in confidence and investigated fully and you will be informed of the outcome.

    Susanna may be reached at:
    susanna.davis@[32]uts.edu.au (as usual please remove the [32])

    PO Box 123 Broadway
    NSW 2007
    Australia

    Phn: ++ (02) 9514 1279

    Fax: ++ (02) 9514 1244 1