1 Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, Wisconsin.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2013 Sep;16(9):708-13. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2012.0334. Epub 2013 May 16.
Social media Websites (SMWs) are increasingly popular research tools. These sites provide new opportunities for researchers, but raise new challenges for Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) that review these research protocols. As of yet, there is little-to-no guidance regarding how an IRB should review the studies involving SMWs. The purpose of this article was to review the common risks inherent in social media research and consider how researchers can consider these risks when writing research protocols. We focused this article on three common research approaches: observational research, interactive research, and survey/interview research. Concomitant with these research approaches, we gave particular attention to the issues pertinent to SMW research, including privacy, consent, and confidentiality. After considering these challenges, we outlined key considerations for both researchers and reviewers when creating or reviewing SMW IRB protocols. Our goal in this article was to provide a detailed examination of relevant ethics and regulatory issues for both researchers and those who review their protocols.
社交媒体网站（SMWs）越来越受欢迎，成为研究工具。这些网站为研究人员提供了新的机会，但也给审查这些研究方案的机构审查委员会（IRBs）带来了新的挑战。到目前为止，关于 IRB 应该如何审查涉及社交媒体的研究，几乎没有什么指导。本文的目的是审查社交媒体研究中固有的常见风险，并考虑研究人员在编写研究方案时如何考虑这些风险。我们将本文的重点放在三种常见的研究方法上：观察性研究、互动研究和调查/访谈研究。与这些研究方法同时，我们特别关注与社交媒体研究相关的问题，包括隐私、同意和保密。在考虑这些挑战之后，我们为研究人员和审查人员制定或审查社交媒体 IRB 方案时列出了关键注意事项。我们的目标是为研究人员和审查其方案的人员提供详细的相关伦理和监管问题的审查。
