Posted: January 24th, 2022

Protecting Vulnerable Populations

Application in Fire Research Unit 6 Essay

Question:

Instructions

This unit has identified the importance of protecting vulnerable populations. Write an essay discussing some vulnerable populations in the fire service or emergency services who could serve as a sample or participants in a study. Identify and assess why the sample or population is vulnerable and how a researcher would protect their rights during the research process. Your essay must be at least one page in length. Remember to include a strong introduction in your essay.

APA Style will not be required for this assignment. If you do choose to use sources in your essay, please cite them, and include a reference page.

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Answer:

Protecting Vulnerable Populations

The most prominent bottleneck to any research activity is Ethical issues. The vulnerability of the targeted research population is one of the barriers to credible, unbiased data, especially when the individual requires protection during the research exercise. In this paper, some vulnerable individuals are outlined. There are two types of vulnerability: situational based on the population or individual’s condition and decisional impairment. (Dempsey et al., 2016)

The most common population that falls under this group comprises those who cannot make an informed decision alone; another party involves those who can be easily manipulated or lured to give information that the interviewer demands. The homeless and other needy groups of individuals are also vulnerable populations.

In an instance where the population or sample for the research involves children who, for some reason, cannot for themselves make a clear, informed decision, they can be easily persuaded to give biased information that will suit the demands of the interviewer/researcher.

Another phenomenon is the easily lured individuals who, for their quest for gifts or materials, are able to meet the demand of the inquirer for the sake of the promised gift or reward. In addition to these, the helpless and needy individuals of all the mentioned groups proved the most critical. They will do anything they require just to get relieved from their burdens. It can be easily manipulated to give the necessary information even if the statement is against their conscience.

The condition of these groups requires protection and their rights upheld. First is the caring out of an assessment of the consent capability of the intended population. This will help rule out situational-related vulnerabilities. Inclusion of the third party more so when the little children are target samples in the research work (Ellard-Gray et al., 2015).

Through this, the researcher’s identity will be concealed, thus minimizing the incidence of manipulation. Lastly, the targeted population’s understanding must be considered by testing the level of maturity and general knowledge to gauge their possibility of understanding the subject matter.

In conclusion to this narrative, it is evident that the vulnerable groups cannot be avoided in research activity. However, this paper offers some crucial guidelines that will help in the protection of their rights and enhance the credibility of the data collected from such populations.