Question

A therapist at a free university clinic treats elementary school children with behavior problems who are referred by a social service agency. She is also a doctoral candidate who proposes using data she has and will collect about the children for a case-based research project. Which of the following statements about parental permission is correct? If it is the best interests of the community that the children participate in the study, parental permission is optional. The parents of the children might feel pressure to give permission to the therapist to use their children's data so that she will continue to provide services to their children. The superintendent of the school system can give permission for children to be in the study; therefore, the therapist doesn't have to ask the parents for permission. The therapist creates her clients' records; therefore, she does not need parents' permission to use the information for research purposes.

Answer 1

The answer is: The parents of the children might feel pressure to give permission to the therapist to use their children's data so that she will continue to provide services to their children

When humans receive a certain positive value from other persons, we tend to have the tendencies to reciprocate and conform to the request made by those other persons.  We commonly refer this as the norm of reciprocity.

This is what happen to the parents on the free university clinic. The clinic has offered positive values to them in form of free treatment/medical checkup. So, when the doctor propose to use the children's data, the parents feel some sort of pressure to give permission tot he therapists.