Research Ethics Flashcards
1
Q
What are the types of ethics?
A
- Professional ethics
- Protection of human participants
2
Q
What are the sub-types of professional issues?
A
- Scientific misconduct
- Correct attribution of ideas
- Authorship
- Conflicts of Interest (COI)
3
Q
What is scientific misconduct?
A
- Most serious: fraudulent or false data
- Consequences may include: retraction of published papers, ban on government grants for years, end of your career, legal charges
4
Q
What is correct attribution of ideas?
A
- Cite the ideas of others appropriately (anything that’s not common knowledge)
- Whenever possible, paraphrase don’t quote
5
Q
What are some reasons people use direct quotes?
A
- Don’t understand the material
- There’s no other way to say the information without plagiarizing
- When making a point about who said the information, or contrasting it with another view
6
Q
What is authorship?
A
- Establishes credit and accountability
- Avoid honorary authors
- Talk about expectations EARLY
- Order depends on the field
7
Q
What are Conflicts of Interest (COI)?
A
- Roles: balancing roles as a clinician and researcher
- Financial: when outside financial interests comprise (or even have the appearance of compromising), the professional judgment of a researcher is called into question
8
Q
What is the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects?
A
- AKA “The Common Rule”
1. Participants must be voluntary, not coerced
2. Participants must be safeguarded from hard (physical and psychological)
3. Participants must provide informed consent
4. Must maintain participant’s confidentiality and privacy
5. Must understand participation can be discontinued at any time
9
Q
What are the main principles discussed in the Belmont Report (1979)?
A
- Respect for persons
- Beneficence
- Justice
10
Q
What is “Respect for persons” as described in the Belmont Report?
A
- Principles: acknowledge autonomy, protect those with diminished autonomy
- Practice: informed consent, concealment/deception
11
Q
Describe the practice of informed consent.
A
- Provide information about the study at a level the participant can comprehend, must be voluntary (no coercion), must be able to withdraw at any time
- Investigator ensures the participant understands: risks/benefits, any aspect that might influence willingness to participate
- Informed consent is a PROCESS, not a signature on a piece of paper
- Even if a therapy that HELPS the person, must have their consent, and must know about alternatives
- Needs to be told about all options, even if this makes it less likely they’d agree to do your experimental one
12
Q
Describe the practice of concealment/deception.
A
- The investigator must:
- Determine whether there are any alternatives
- Determine whether the risk is justified
- Ensure participants know they are allowed to withdraw at any time
- Takes full responsibility for detecting and removing stressful after-effects of the experience
- Ensure that participants are provided with an explanation as soon as possible (debriefing)
13
Q
What is “Beneficence” as described in the Belmont Report?
A
- Principle: protect the well-being of the person (psychological and physical), maximize benefits, minimize potential harms
- Practice: assess the type and extent of risks/harms, beneficial treatments, privacy & confidentiality
14
Q
Describe beneficial treatments.
A
- If there are beneficial treatments, control groups must be provided access to them
- For short treatments, it is legitimate to have one group of patients receive the treatment, and a control group -But for lengthy treatment, is it right to withhold treatment from people who need it?
- If not, how can you determine whether a treatment works?
15
Q
Describe privacy & confidentiality.
A
- Privacy: applies to the person, how they’re recruited, and their information collected
- Confidentiality: applies to the data, maintaining/accessing identifiable information
