ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the relationship between researcher and research participant is governed not only by explicit rules and procedures but also an "implicit contract" that is essentially about the restraint of power. It begins with the ethical oversight of a research study, followed by a discussion of the core principles that guide the complex decision-making that researchers undertake to conduct ethical research. Because so much research today is being conducted online, the chapter looks at how these same principles translate to the online environment. Ethical principles have been complicated by a growing role of the Internet in research. Internet-mediated research (IMR) generally refers to the remote acquisition of data from or about human participants through online technologies. Possible breaches of confidentiality include verbatim quotes, online survey responses, and/or image files that can be traced or linked to an identifiable individual IP address or accrual of data from multiple sources.
