Contents
1. Ethical Guidelines
Ethical guidelines are present in any type of research:
- Human: focuses on protecting the rights of participants.
- Animal: focuses on proper care and minimizing pain.
- Animals cannot give informed consent.
- This type of research tends to be more invasive.
1.1. Human Research Ethics
All research proposals must be approved by a Research Ethics Board (REB). The first safeguard is an informed consent form. Though we focus on protecting the rights of participants, ethics also applies to the storage of data, anonymity of files, adequate supervision, plagiarism, and honesty with data.
We also have to ensure that our research includes a diverse sample of people, that is, our studies should include all ages, all sexes, and all ethnicities. Before, the majority of research was done on adult, white males.
1.2. General Ethical Guidelines
There are many facets of the guidelines (this is just a sample):
- Honesty
- Objectivity
- Carefulness
- Openness
- Respect for intellectual property
- Confidentiality
- Responsible publication
- Social responsibility
- Non-discrimination
- Competence
- Legality
- Animal care
- Human subjects protection
And there are many ethical principles (this is just a sample):
- Protection from harm (physical, psychological, and social/economical)
- Respect for human dignity and privacy
- Minimize use of deception (active and passive)
- Free and informed consent
- Debriefing
Consent Forms: these are designed to inform the participant of their involvement in the research. When participants give their consent, it must be given intelligently, knowingly, and voluntarily:
- Freely: informed consent must be voluntarily given, without manipulation, undue influence or coercion.
- Maintained: no undue influence or coercion to continue the study
- Participants always have the right to withdraw but they should also be informed of the consequences beforehand (e.g., what will happen to data already collected, and compensation)
1.3. Ethical Checks
- Will the study have informational value?
- Does the study pose risks to participants? If so, are there sufficient controls for those risks?
- Is there a provision for informed consent?
- Is there a provision for adequate feedback?
- Do I accept full responsibility for the ethical conduct of the study?
- Has the proposal been approved by the REB?
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