Explain how you might address these potential issues.

Access and Permission Considerations

An important aspect of choosing a topic is access or the ability to conduct your study. For example, you may want to know how leaders in a particular company use social media to increase sales, but they are unwilling to talk to you. If you are not able to gain access to the leaders, then you will not be able to gather the data you need for your study.

Additionally, when selecting a topic for your study, consider whether conducting the study would involve talking to protected classes of people or vulnerable populations. Federal regulations require protecting the welfare of vulnerable subjects who may not be of age, have the authority or ability to speak for themselves, or are vulnerable in any other way.

Protected classes include the following:

1. • children or minors under age 18
   • prisoners
   • pregnant women
   • people with cognitive impairments or mental disabilities
   • people who are educationally or economically disadvantaged

If you are considering conducting research with any of the protected classes of human subjects, consider options for completing your study in a different way. For example, instead of talking to minor children, talk to their parents. There are many creative options!

Write a 250- to 500-word summary in which you:

1. • Identify what permissions will you need to access the people, organizations, and/or data to conduct your research.
   • Identify who you might need to consult to gain permission to conduct your study.
   • Explain what potential issues you might encounter.
   • Explain how you might address these potential issues.