Mock Ethics Application - Research Proposal

SWM5112
MOCK ETHICS APPLICATION - RESEARCH PROPOSAL
(Adapted from work by Dr. Samone McCurdy and MUHREC)
1. Project details
Title of proposed project (10 words max)
Australian caregivers understanding of cyber safety for children
2. Research team
(a) Details of Chief Investigator 1
Name
Position:
Email address
2 (b) Details of the student investigator
Name
Position:
Student email
address
Briefly outline the experiences and qualifications of the research team that are
necessary for conducting this research (100 – 150 words)
The research team would comprise of the researcher (me) and a supervisor. The
1 Use the Monash website (Find a researcher is helpful) and select a supervisor for this project. They will
be your nominated Chief Investigator. DO NOT contact this person. This is only to ensure students
are able to locate their project within the scope of the research interest of staff and University.

researcher is a social work student and is a novice researcher and this accounts for the
reason why a supervisor would be needed to successfully conduct the research study.

3. Background and aims
(a)In plain language, provide a succinct description of the background and the
potential significance of the research project
(b) Clearly state the study aim and the research question (including definitions
of all key terms) (250 words)
Cyber security- Cyber security generally refers to the body of approaches, procedures,
and techniques that are generally employed for protecting networks, programs, data and
devices, from any kind of attack, unauthorised access and damage.
Cyber bullying- This refers to the process of bullying that generally occurs over a range of
digital devices such as, computers, cell phones, mobiles and tablets.
Caregiver- A carer refers to a paid or unpaid member of the social network of an
individual, who generally provides assistance to the person for accomplishing activities of
daily living.
Australian caregivers- Parents of children who have unauthorised access to internet
facilities both at home and at school
The evidence base suggests that one out of every five Australian children are victims of
cyberbullying as per the report published by the e-commissioner of Australia (Karp 2019).
In addition to this, the report also revealed that children are exceedingly vulnerable to
encounter episodes of sexual abuse and other child abuse material online. Further, one in
every four child within Australia have been reported to be directly threatened for direct
violence or death which states that the problem related to cyber-crime and safety is
integral within the Australian context (BBC News 2019). Reports further suggest that on an
average the age of the victims is equivalent to 14 years and typically girls are more prone
to be bullied compared to the boys (The Australian Women’s Weekly 2019). Also, a major
proportion of the online abuse is peer to peer and has been observed to be tightly linked

to social conflict that takes place within the school gates. Research reports further suggest
that one out of every 10 adolescent Australians had an intimate image or a video leaked
online without consent (ABC News 2019). Further, news reports also reveal that vulnerable
audience that includes, LGBTIQ community, Aboriginal and Torres Islander are more prone
to experience online abuse (ABC News 2019). Further, high risk online games such as
‘BLUE WHALE’ and ‘MOMO CHALLENGE’ have been responsible for an increased number of
mortality of the children. The challenge has been reported to bully children and force them
to practice self-torture and through the subsequent stages give up their lives (Hürriyet
Daily News 2019). It is integral to note in this context that in most of the cases, the
immediate care givers of the child victims were unaware of the process of bullying that
their children were going through (The Feed 2019). Also, the evidence base does not
contain appropriate research journals that specifically answer these concerns and this
suggests the need to conduct an elaborate research to investigate the matter.

4. Type of research
Please describe your chosen study design and give a clear justification for this
choice (500 – 600 words)
The research design that would be undertaken for conducting the proposed research would
include adapting a qualitative exploratory research design. As stated by Rigby (2019),
qualitative research design is used for the evaluation of qualitative parameters that include
attributes such as skills, expertise or evaluation of perception. The proposed research study
therefore intends to investigate the existing perception and understanding of the Australian
caregivers with respect to cyber-crimes or bullying against children.
The proposed research study intends to evaluate the qualitative factors that shape the existing

perception and understanding level of the Australian caregivers with respect to cyber offences
or cyber-crimes against children. In the words of Glesne (2016), research studies that are
focused on the evaluation of qualitative perceptions must follow a qualitative and exploratory
type of research design. This accounts for the rationale why the qualitative exploratory
research design was chosen for this research study.
Research studies mention that children are overwhelmingly exposed to a large number of
negative influence from cyber bullying and violence which leads to fatal outcome that can
range from the onset of mental health disorders to death. The evidence base further suggests
that approximately 37% of the children who belong to the age group of 12 and 17 have
encountered online harassment and bullying. In addition to this, it has further been mentioned
that more than 30% of the children have experienced cyber bullying more than once and have
considered suicide (Rigby 2019; Hemphill et al. 2015). The unregulated use of the internet and
social media websites have been studied to pose children at an increased risk of exploitation.
In addition to this, it is worth noting that child protection and welfare concerns have mostly
been implemented to practice offline, however, implementing policies and procedure to ensure
protection of children online is limited (The Feed 2019). On account of poor availability of
information about the existing perception and understanding of the Australian care givers in
relation to cyber safety for children, appropriate awareness strategies are yet to be integrated
across the different Australian territory (DoSomething.org 2019). Therefore, upon conducting
this research, an improved understanding would be acquired in relation to the existing
perception and understanding level of the Australian care givers with respect to the cyber
safety concern for children which would subsequently promote improved provision of cyber
safety policies and at the same time would also facilitate improved provision of appropriate
referral and support services to victims of cyber bullying and other offence. This would
promote improved mental health outcome for the Australian children and reduce the rate of
suicides and poor mental health outcome that result in deterioration of the quality of life and
lead to poor life outcome.
The significance of the research can be mentioned as an attempt to investigate the existing
level of understanding and perception of the Australian care givers with respect to cyber-

crimes and offences against minors. Qualitative evaluation of the same would help to identify
and understand the existing gaps in terms of education and awareness needs which need to be
bridged so as to foster increased cyber safety of the children (Silverman 2016). Also, upon the
successful conduction of the research the quality of mental health of the children can be
improved significantly, the rate of suicides can be reduced and at the quality of life of the
children can be improved.

5. Proposed participants
5 (a) Give a clear outline of your study population; your chosen sampling strategy;
and your intended sample (including any special characteristics, such as ethnicity,
demographic details, health status, etc.) with a clear rationale for this decision (300
words)
Research paradigm refers to the set of mutual agreements and beliefs that are shared
between the researchers about how different issues must be comprehended and understood.
This research will be based on interpretivism approach (Flynn & McDermott 2016). Interpretive
researchers generally assume that admittance to authenticity (socially constructed or given)
can only be achieved through social constructions such as, shared meanings, consciousness,
language, and instruments (Paul et al. 2016). This paradigm is allied with the theoretical
position of idealism, and is generally employed for grouping diverse methods, including
phenomenology, social constructivism, and hermeneutics. While conducting this research, it
will be imperative for the researchers to appreciate differences between the study participants