Ethics in Research: Chapter 4

Question 1

responsibility toward participants

Answer 1

• ensure the welfare, dignity, safety
• for human and nonhuman research participants and
  subjects.

Question 2

responsibility toward science

Answer 2

ensure that public reports of research are accurate and honest.

Question 3

historical roots of ethics

Answer 3

• Milgram experiment
• Nuremburg Code
• Amercian Psychological Association
• National research act
• Belmont report

Question 4

Belmont Report: three core principles

Answer 4

-respect of persons
- beneficence
- justice

Question 5

Tricouncil of Policy Statements

Answer 5

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
  Council of Canada (NSERC)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research
  Council of Canada (SSHRC)

Question 6

Tricouncil Policy Statement: core principles

Answer 6

• respect for persons
  -concerns for welfare (beneficence)
• justice

Question 7

ethical principles

Answer 7

• no harm
• informed consent and deception
• anonymity and confidentiality

Question 8

no harm

Answer 8

• Participants must be informed of what will be
  done to them & why (purpose of the study).
• Right to withdraw at any time, without consequence.
• Participation must be voluntary and not coerced.

Question 9

informed consent

Answer 9

• assent is necessary from children and vulnerable populations
• consent is necessary from guardians
• for indigenous populations, consent is required from the community’s gatekeepers

Question 10

deception

Answer 10

• Passive: leave out information.
• Must always debrief participants immediately afterward.
• Active: alter information (e.g., false feedback) or confederates
• placebo: inform participants that they may or
  may not be in this group

Question 11

anonymity

Answer 11

• Data shared should not allow for the
  identification of an individual
• Assign code numbers or
  pseudonyms
• Only group data is reported

Question 12

confidentiality

Answer 12

• Access to the data is limited to the research
  team.
• Password-protected files, encryption, and hard copies in locked file cabinets

Question 13

public information and consent

Answer 13

• the information is legally accessible to the
  public and appropriately protected by law
• the information is publicly accessible and
  there is no reasonable expectation of
  privacy.

Question 14

consent is not required when…

Answer 14

• there is no intervention staged by the
  researcher, or direct interaction with the
  individuals or groups
• there is no reasonable expectation of
  privacy
• dissemination of research results
  does not allow the identification of specific
  individuals.

Question 15

the internet and consent: major issues

Answer 15

• Expectation of privacy
• Persistence & traceability of quotes

Question 16

privacy when it comes to the Internet

Answer 16

• site requiring a subscription
  or registration?
• perception of privacy depends on a group’s
  norms and codes, target audience, and
  objective.

Question 17

consent is required on the internet when…

Answer 17

there is an expectation for privacy

Question 18

how would internet users see the situation if they were to learn their information was used in research without their consent?

Answer 18

• do not expect to be research subjects.
• are likely to see it as an invasion of privacy, voyeuristic, and opportunistic

Question 19

how to protect anonymity when quotes are permanent and traceable?

Answer 19

• do not identify the name of the online
  community or provide the website address
• anonymize and paraphrase quotations
• use search engines to ensure they are not
  traceable
• use composite instead of direct quotes

Question 20

purpose of animal research

Answer 20

• to learn more about animals.
• to conduct research that is impossible to do with humans
• to learn more about humans.

Question 21

animal ethics: 3 Rs

Answer 21

• REPLACING or avoiding animals in research
• REDUCING the number of animals in research
• REFINING care and procedures to minimize harm

Question 22

animal ethics guidelines

Answer 22

• proper care, treatment, & maintenance.
• handlers must be properly trained (CCAC)

Question 23

ethics committees

Answer 23

• University Human Research Ethics Committee
• Animal Care Committee

Question 24

scientific integrity

Answer 24

• error versus fraud (erratum / retraction).
• safeguards: replication, peer review &
  watchdogs.
• plagiarism of sources
• data fabrication & falsification of
  findings.
• ghost-writing & fake peer reviews

Question 25

Wakefield Study Case: Flaws

Answer 25

• 12 children in the study; not randomly selected but recruited through anti-MMR vaccine campaigners.
• failed to disclose he was hired by lawyers for families suing MMR vaccine maker (was paid $668,000).
• fabricated findings and altered data to suit the hypothesis: vaccine caused gastrointestinal syndrome that triggered autism.
• claimed children were normal prior to
  vaccine; 5 had prior developmental problems.
• reported that 9 children developed
  regressive autism; only 1 did.
• for these 9 children changed gut examination
  results from “unremarkable” to “colitis”.
• case descriptions contradict medical records and parent accounts.