Research involving the use of information about or the participation of children, youth, and families must take certain issues into consideration, such as informed consent and the confidentiality of data. The following resources discuss ethical concerns that may arise when performing research in child welfare and how to address those concerns.
Ethical Research Involving Children (PDF - 4,100 KB)
UNICEF (2013)
Provides guidelines about informed consent, confidentiality, and other related issues to assist researchers in developing ethical studies.
Foretelling the Future: A Critical Perspective on the Use of Predictive Analytics in Child Welfare (PDF - 209 KB)
Capatosto (2017)
Kirwan Institute Research Report
Discusses the use of Big Data analytics for informing decisions in child welfare.
A Matter of Justice: Foster Children as Human Subjects (PDF - 451 KB)
Hulkower (2014)
Voices in Bioethics, 1(2)
Explains how the inclusion of children and youth in foster care in research studies may directly benefit the population.
Research Challenges and Infrastructure
New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research
Describes the challenges associated with research on child abuse and neglect, as well as the current landscape of the field.