CRP Professional Standards & Best Practices 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A researcher discovers a colleague has been selectively reporting data to support a preferred hypothesis. What is the most appropriate first response?
- Report the colleague directly to the IRB without discussion
- Confront the colleague privately and document the conversation (Correct answer)
- Ignore it if the findings are ultimately published
- Alter the data to balance the report yourself
Correct answer: Confront the colleague privately and document the conversation
Addressing suspected misconduct privately first and documenting it follows professional standards and institutional policy before escalating.
Question 2: Which principle underlies the requirement that research participants must be able to withdraw from a study at any time without penalty?
- Beneficence
- Justice
- Respect for persons (autonomy) (Correct answer)
- Nonmaleficence
Correct answer: Respect for persons (autonomy)
The right to withdraw without penalty is a direct application of the principle of respect for persons, which protects individual autonomy.
Question 3: A CRP professional is asked to present preliminary findings at a conference before peer review is complete. What is the best practice?
- Refuse to present until peer review is finalized
- Present findings and clearly disclose their preliminary nature (Correct answer)
- Present findings as final to avoid confusion
- Omit statistical limitations to keep the presentation concise
Correct answer: Present findings and clearly disclose their preliminary nature
Presenting preliminary findings is acceptable when their unreviewed status is transparently disclosed to the audience.
Question 4: When a sponsor requests changes to a study protocol mid-research to favor commercially beneficial outcomes, what should a CRP professional do?
- Implement changes immediately to maintain the sponsor relationship
- Evaluate whether changes compromise scientific integrity before accepting (Correct answer)
- Decline all sponsor input after the study begins
- Consult only the research team, excluding the IRB
Correct answer: Evaluate whether changes compromise scientific integrity before accepting
Researchers must evaluate any sponsor-requested changes against scientific integrity standards and IRB requirements before implementation.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes 'dual publication' (duplicate publication) in research ethics?
- Publishing a study in two languages simultaneously
- Submitting the same data as original work to multiple journals without disclosure (Correct answer)
- Citing the same reference more than once in a manuscript
- Publishing both qualitative and quantitative findings in separate papers
Correct answer: Submitting the same data as original work to multiple journals without disclosure
Duplicate publication means submitting substantially the same work to multiple outlets and presenting it as original, which violates research integrity standards.
Question 6: A research team collects data from minors. Beyond parental consent, what additional requirement typically applies?
- A federal waiver of all ethical oversight
- Assent from the minor participant when developmentally appropriate (Correct answer)
- Written consent from a school administrator only
- Approval from the local law enforcement agency
Correct answer: Assent from the minor participant when developmentally appropriate
When minors can understand the research, obtaining their assent alongside parental permission is required by ethical standards and most IRBs.
Question 7: In a longitudinal study, participant contact information changes over time. What is the professional best practice for maintaining the sample?
- Use only publicly available data to locate lost participants
- Implement re-consent procedures and update contact information with participant permission (Correct answer)
- Replace lost participants with new recruits without adjustment
- Exclude all data from participants who became unreachable
Correct answer: Implement re-consent procedures and update contact information with participant permission
Re-consent and updated contact protocols respect privacy while maintaining data integrity in longitudinal studies.
CRP Professional Standards & Best Practices 2
A researcher discovers a colleague has been selectively reporting data to support a preferred hypothesis.
What is the most appropriate first response?