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Yes I agree with SolanderJ78. Sometimes there may be ethical considerations that are typical to most online research. However, my advice is use your common sense to determine ethical consideration in your research study. Your common sense will play a major role in identifying ethical issues since there is no clear cut ethical standards that applies to every research study the same way.

Though the ethical considerations may vary case by case, I think there are some considerations typical of most online research that may not be so evident in traditional research. Since the researcher never actually meets the participants, it is not only more difficult, but more imperative to ensure informed consent of the participants, and avoid children on participating accidentally, or on purpose.

Yes I think you are right. It is difficult to provide “one size fit all” ethical guidelines or best practices for all research studies. Basically one has to take a case by case approach where ethical review is necessary.

Yes, it is true but depending on the nature of data collection over the internet, the ethical considerations will also vary.

I thought that same ethical standards which applies to traditional research also applies to internet research. Can someone give me more insight on this?