Titleabc123 Version X1week One Assignment Scenariopsych627 Version 1 Discuss the concept of vulnerable subjects. Why would a researcher or institutional review board (IRB) need to consider this concept when planning a research project? Describe the role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) in the review of the research plan. Vulnerable subjects refer to participants in research that do not have the ability to consent. When planning a research topic considering vulnerable participants is essential to ensure no harm comes to the research participants. Vulnerable subjects include children, the elderly, and the mentally defective. If someone is incapable of making a decision for themselves due to impairment or due to their age they are vulnerable. If a person has no control over their lives, such as prison inmates, then they would also be considered a vulnerable subject. A researcher or institutional review board (IRB) would consider the concept of vulnerable subjects to ensure no one become harmed during the research. Past human violations in research have led to the need to have IRB review the research plan to ensure if there are any vulnerable participants they will not be harmed. There are certain ethical obligations that must be met in the research working when working with human subjects (NIH, 2011). Human experimentation has a negative past but in truth thanks to scientific discoveries there have been many positive changes for mankind. For example thanks to research there are now cures for all types of disease and treatments for all types of disorders. The problem with human experimentation is past horrific experiments that have forever harmed science and humanity have created a negative connotation associated with to human experimentation especially concerning the actions of Nazi in experimenting on Jewish people and other experiments such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. While some human experimentation did cause harm to the participants in current society ethical standards have been developed to stop this type of harm. Human experimentation is justified if it creates a benefit to society and limits harm to the participants. In order to ensure the research can be tested for human use it requires research with human participants. Human participants should also provide informed consent which means they have been informed fully on the research and understand what it entails. Within the discussion, speak to the strengths and weaknesses of the designs. Examine and discuss the data collection issues for a qualitative study, including the relationships between the researcher and the participants and the reflections of the researcher on the meanings obtained from the data. Carefully