Secondary Participants

A human participant is a living individual whom a researcher obtains data about through interaction with that individual or with private information that identifies that person. A secondary participant is someone who was not initially designated as a primary participant in a study, but about whom information is gathered from persons who are primary participants. Secondary participants are created when individuals provide information about other people whom they know or to whom they are related. Because secondary participants were not initially recruited for the study, they have not given consent to be studied.

Secondary participants are routinely created when social scientists and educators ask questions about the behavior and beliefs of participants' family members and associates. Ethnographers learn information about members of communities where participants live, interact, or work. Epidemiologists studying communicable diseases or infection risks request the identity of all persons with whom participants interact over specific issues, such as sharing of needles or drugs, eating similar foods, or engaging in risky sex or similar recreational activities.

Crucial is whether or not secondary participants are human participants from whom researchers must obtain informed consent for use of data about them. If a person “about whom” information is sought cannot be identified, even by the researcher, then the person is not a secondary participant and informed consent is not required. However, if the secondary participant reasonably can be identified, researchers may have to obtain their informed consent, especially if the information about them is private, sensitive, or significant. Since no worldwide consensus exists regarding how to handle issues of consent, researchers should check on the regulations governing ethics issues in the country granting approval.

When researchers use network, reputational, or snowball sampling to identify potential research participants, individuals may become unconsented secondary participants because such sampling gathers information “about” individuals, and renders them “identifiable.” In addition, since ethnographers and qualitative researchers usually can identify their primary participants, if primary participants name specific people in their network, researchers will have information about those people relative to the reasons for their participation in [Page 805]specific activities. They are, therefore, secondary participants. Their consent may need to be obtained before data about them are recorded and used in the research, unless an ethics review board has granted a waiver of informed consent.

Researchers must exercise particular care if they have access to private, sensitive, or significant information—anything a potential participant might not want, or expect, to be disclosed or that could put them at risk if disclosed to others. Risks include experiencing emotional, financial, legal, political or physical harm, or embarrassment for violating social or cultural norms or taboos. It derives from disclosure of

• Abusive treatment of the participant by parents or relatives
• Abusive treatment the participant has inflicted upon others
• Participation in illegal or unethical acts
• Illegal, antisocial, or nonsocial behavior
• Drug use and sexual behavior
• Communicable diseases or stigmas
• Interactions with people whom participants are forbidden to contact
• Engaging in tabooed activities

Risks are especially likely when the culture of the researcher differs from that of the participants, since risks and what constitutes normative or even legal behavior differ across societies. Thus, consent may need to be obtained from secondary

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