Final answer:
Institutional policies and ethical considerations, through IRBs, ensure the safety and dignity of research participants by requiring informed consent, equitable subject selection, and confidentiality, as well as minimizing risks associated with the research.
Step-by-step explanation:
Institutional policies and ethical considerations are integral to the process of participant recruitment in research studies. Ethical considerations ensure the dignity and safety of participants. These are upheld by guidelines which require researchers to obtain informed consent, minimize risk, and facilitate the equitable selection of subjects. Research institutions have Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) that review and approve studies involving human subjects to guarantee that these ethical considerations are properly addressed. An IRB examines factors such as the voluntariness of participation, fairness in subject selection, preservation of confidentiality, and the potential risks and benefits to participants. Unethical recruitment approaches, such as offering extra credit in a coercive manner, can bias the study and violate ethical norms.