Low-risk Human Sciences

Examples of More Than Low Risk Projects (this list is not exhaustive)

• Migrants and/or refugees being asked to recount any experiences of discrimination or challenges settling into life in Australia or about issues that prompted them to come to Australia.
• Surveys, interviews or focus groups asking participants about eating disorders, mental health issues, distressing topics, personal health matters, traumatic experiences, etc.
• Research involving members of the armed forces, including the police.
• People who are in a specific situation that makes them vulnerable and where they might be subject to a significant power imbalance, e.g. aged care home residents, the homeless, people with disabilities who are dependent on others for their care, etc.
• Research that directly or indirectly exposes any illegal activity, e.g. dangerous working conditions, fraud, drug-taking, child abuse, theft, etc.
• Research that uses a waiver of consent, e.g. to collect personal data about school or tertiary students, etc.  or where no direct consent is being obtained from participants.
• Projects where participants might require access to mental health referral options after their participation, e.g. the research could trigger distressing memories, etc.
• The use of active deception or planned concealment: (National Statement 2.3.1.)
• Research on relationship issues or parenting styles where the focus of the research is to discover challenges and problems.
• Educational, psychological or physical interventions.
• Research in overseas countries where there is a risk to participants, e.g. through conflict, discrimination, jeopardising employment, social status, arrest, etc.
• Research in overseas country where the research topic is illegal in that country.
• Research using devices, e.g. functional MRI, MEG, transcranial simulation that could discover physical conditions that require follow-up by a health professional.
• Use of devices that could potentially trigger an adverse event, e.g. tDCS or tACS, that might require follow-up by a health professional.
• Research that involves viewing or reading disturbing or violent content.
• Projects that involve the DASS21 and other similar questionnaires that ask people questions about negative emotions.

Examples of no more than low risk research (this list is not exhaustive)

• Study aiming to determine whether cue utilisation moderates the allocation of resources during a simulated driving task.
• Research on investigating whether eye-movements can be related to reading comprehension during silent reading in order to create a new and more valid test of reading comprehension.
• Study investigating the development of children’s learning-oriented talk from infancy to age three from a multi-dimensional perspective.
• Research on investigating international students’ approaches to university writing assignments.
• Research using multiple case-study design to investigate how language identity of ELICOS students develops during study in Australia.
• Study aiming to investigate teachers’ beliefs and practices about oral corrective feedback (CF), students’ beliefs about CF and the change in teachers’ beliefs and practices about CF which can occur as a result of training and awareness raising activities (in Vietnam).
• Study investigating the effect that teacher-created computer-based video instruction (CBVI) using iPads in mathematics lessons has on students’ cognitive, behavioural and affective learning in the primary school classroom.
• Research aiming to generate de-identified data on parents' and educators' perspectives on play.
• Study examining the effects of challenge demands, hindrance demands and job resources on work engagement, employee innovation and job performance among bank workers.

Examples of Projects returned to change Q 0.3/Section 1.3.5 to ‘more than low risk’

To consider People (participants) – Collecting data via surveys or interviews is not considered ‘more than low risk’; however, the targeting participants are people with disability or refugees.  These projects are considered ‘more than low risk’.

To consider Topic – Research involving mental health issues (as indicated in the project title) and the questionnaire containing questions that may cause distress (e.g. more than discomfort).

To consider Procedure/Questions

- While collecting data by using questionnaires/surveys is 'low risk', the survey contains items that assess Borderline Personality Disorder and there is a large battery of questions (300+) asking participants about negative relationship experiences.

- Collecting data using surveys/questionnaires is ‘low risk’ but projects using DASS 21 (the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales) are deemed ‘more than low risk’.