The document discusses a pilot study conducted to examine ethical and methodological challenges of researching intimate partners of female rape victims in South Africa. The pilot study had three objectives: 1) test and refine recruitment methods for partners within two weeks of the rape for a six-month longitudinal study, 2) identify risks in recruitment and data collection that could harm participants, and 3) determine feasibility of the main study given resources. The pilot helped identify issues prior to the main study and confirmed the research design was feasible. It demonstrated how a pilot study can help address ethical problems when researching vulnerable populations.
1) Suicide research faces significant ethical challenges including obtaining approval from Institutional Review Boards to study at-risk populations, balancing participant confidentiality with safety, and developing standardized guidelines.
2) Barriers to suicide research include concerns about liability if a participant dies by suicide, lack of consensus on confidentiality and risk management protocols, and subjective biases of committee members.
3) Research on suicide bereavement is also limited due to restrictions from ethics boards despite the need to understand impacts on surviving family and friends. Improved education of ethics boards and engagement between researchers and committees could help address these challenges.
The document provides an overview of basic sampling concepts and different types of sampling methods. It defines key terms like population, sample, sampling frame, and sampling bias. It also describes different sampling techniques including probability sampling methods like simple random sampling, systematic random sampling, stratified random sampling, and random cluster sampling. Non-probability sampling methods like convenience sampling, snowball sampling, judgmental sampling, and quota sampling are also outlined. Factors that influence sample size and examples of studies using different sampling strategies are provided.
The Need For Uniform Forensic Policies And Procedures In Healthcare walsh1120
The document discusses the need for uniform forensic policies and procedures in healthcare facilities in Massachusetts. It notes that currently there is only one statewide policy to guide evidence collection for sexual assault victims. The study aims to assess whether a lack of uniform policies impacts criminal case outcomes. It will use a retrospective correlational design to examine relationships between evidence collection procedures and case dispositions using surveys and data analysis. The results are pending the execution of the research study.
This document provides an overview of research ethics and ethical principles guiding human subject research. It discusses key topics including:
1) The importance of ethics in research to protect participants and ensure respect, safety, and knowledge sharing.
2) Ethical principles like respect for human dignity, informed consent, protecting vulnerable groups, and ensuring benefits outweigh risks.
3) Procedures for ethical research like obtaining informed consent, maintaining confidentiality, minimizing harms, and conducting risk-benefit assessments.
4) Potential benefits and risks to research participants in different types of studies.
5) Special considerations for vulnerable groups like children, those with disabilities, the terminally ill, and institutionalized individuals.
EMPHNET-PHE Course: Module02: ethical principles and theories and the core pr...Dr Ghaiath Hussein
This document provides an overview of different ethical theories and principles relevant to public health practice and research. It discusses major philosophical approaches like deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics. It also covers religious approaches like Islamic ethics and key principles in public health ethics around concepts like autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Specific issues like informed consent, conflicts of interest, and resource allocation are examined through the lens of these different theories. The document aims to help public health practitioners analyze and approach ethical issues in their work.
1) Suicide research faces significant ethical challenges including obtaining approval from Institutional Review Boards to study at-risk populations, balancing participant confidentiality with safety, and developing standardized guidelines.
2) Barriers to suicide research include concerns about liability if a participant dies by suicide, lack of consensus on confidentiality and risk management protocols, and subjective biases of committee members.
3) Research on suicide bereavement is also limited due to restrictions from ethics boards despite the need to understand impacts on surviving family and friends. Improved education of ethics boards and engagement between researchers and committees could help address these challenges.
The document provides an overview of basic sampling concepts and different types of sampling methods. It defines key terms like population, sample, sampling frame, and sampling bias. It also describes different sampling techniques including probability sampling methods like simple random sampling, systematic random sampling, stratified random sampling, and random cluster sampling. Non-probability sampling methods like convenience sampling, snowball sampling, judgmental sampling, and quota sampling are also outlined. Factors that influence sample size and examples of studies using different sampling strategies are provided.
The Need For Uniform Forensic Policies And Procedures In Healthcare walsh1120
The document discusses the need for uniform forensic policies and procedures in healthcare facilities in Massachusetts. It notes that currently there is only one statewide policy to guide evidence collection for sexual assault victims. The study aims to assess whether a lack of uniform policies impacts criminal case outcomes. It will use a retrospective correlational design to examine relationships between evidence collection procedures and case dispositions using surveys and data analysis. The results are pending the execution of the research study.
This document provides an overview of research ethics and ethical principles guiding human subject research. It discusses key topics including:
1) The importance of ethics in research to protect participants and ensure respect, safety, and knowledge sharing.
2) Ethical principles like respect for human dignity, informed consent, protecting vulnerable groups, and ensuring benefits outweigh risks.
3) Procedures for ethical research like obtaining informed consent, maintaining confidentiality, minimizing harms, and conducting risk-benefit assessments.
4) Potential benefits and risks to research participants in different types of studies.
5) Special considerations for vulnerable groups like children, those with disabilities, the terminally ill, and institutionalized individuals.
EMPHNET-PHE Course: Module02: ethical principles and theories and the core pr...Dr Ghaiath Hussein
This document provides an overview of different ethical theories and principles relevant to public health practice and research. It discusses major philosophical approaches like deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics. It also covers religious approaches like Islamic ethics and key principles in public health ethics around concepts like autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Specific issues like informed consent, conflicts of interest, and resource allocation are examined through the lens of these different theories. The document aims to help public health practitioners analyze and approach ethical issues in their work.
This document discusses research ethics and principles of medical ethics. It provides examples of unethical medical experiments that violated principles of consent, beneficence and justice. These include the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, research at Willowbrook State Hospital, and experiments conducted by Dr. Josef Mengele and the US military. It also summarizes several important ethical codes and declarations related to human subjects research, including the Nuremberg Code, Declaration of Helsinki, Belmont Report and regulations from the National Committee of BioEthics in Saudi Arabia.
Scientific Research And Ethics by Manu ShreshthaManu Shreshtha
This document presents an overview of ethics with respect to science and research. It begins with definitions of ethics and discusses ethical theories like deontology, teleology, and utilitarianism. It then examines important historical events that shaped modern research ethics like the Nazi medical experiments and the Nuremberg Code. The document outlines principles for ethical research like informed consent and protecting vulnerable subjects. It discusses ethical concerns in qualitative and quantitative research and emphasizes the importance of ethics in protecting participants and ensuring research is conducted safely and for the benefit of all.
This document discusses ethics in health research. It provides an overview of the origins and principles of ethics, including teleological and deontological perspectives. It then discusses ethics specifically in the context of health research, including how research must be useful and avoid harm. The document outlines several historical examples of unethical human experimentation, such as the Nazi experiments and Unit 731 tests during WWII. It also discusses international efforts to establish ethical guidelines, including the Nuremberg Code, Declaration of Helsinki, and Belmont Report. The core ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, justice, and respect for the environment are covered. Elements of informed consent and protections for vulnerable populations are also summarized.
Ethics seek to resolve questions of human morality regarding concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, and virtue and vice. Research ethics involves applying these principles to scientific research. Several historical abuses of human subjects in medical experiments led to the development of ethical codes like the Nuremberg Code to protect research participants. Today, Institutional Review Boards review research proposals to ensure the principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice are upheld. Researchers must obtain informed consent, protect privacy and confidentiality, minimize harm, and report results honestly.
This study explored the role of social and communicative interactions in facilitating prescription stimulant misuse among college students. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 37 students at a mid-sized university who had misused prescription stimulants. Through a qualitative analysis, they identified three primary themes in the students' discussions: 1) trusted friends prompted interpersonal use by complaining about schoolwork or directly encouraging trying the stimulants; 2) students strategically negotiated obtaining stimulants from others through partial disclosures; and 3) collective stimulant use and its social influence reinforced norms of acceptability on campus. The study suggests communicative interactions play a key role in creating environments permissive of prescription stimulant misuse.
This document discusses the identification and formulation of research problems. It begins by defining a research problem and noting that identifying a problem is the first step of the research process. It then discusses several potential sources that a research problem may come from, such as personal/practical experiences, literature reviews, previous research, theories, and social issues. The document also outlines criteria for selecting a good research problem, including significance, originality, feasibility, being solvable, being current, and being interesting to the researcher. It concludes by outlining the process of formulating a research problem from selecting a broad topic area to delimiting the topic and evaluating and stating the problem.
This document outlines a proposed study to develop and validate a new high-fidelity simulated learning environment (SLE) training module for use in audiology education. The study will have two phases: 1) development of the SLE module incorporating common errors identified by instructors, and 2) validation of the SLE module among instructors. Outcomes will provide input to improve the SLE and validate its use for basic clinical training of audiology students. Upon completion, the preliminary SLE model could be used for further research.
This document provides an overview of Jade Stevens' dissertation which examines the theoretical explanations of sexual offending. The dissertation will explore theories such as Finkelhor's Precondition Model, Marshall and Barbaree's Integrated Theory, and Ward and Siegert's Pathway Model to understand why some individuals are sexually attracted to children. It will also look at female sexual offenders and whether the theories apply differently. The document outlines Stevens' methodology, which will involve a literature review of existing research. It acknowledges some limitations around primary research due to ethical considerations of interviewing sexual offenders.
The document discusses several topics related to conducting research, including:
1. The importance of assessing knowledge, attitudes, and barriers towards research among medical students to promote research involvement.
2. Previous studies on this topic have found moderate knowledge but room for improving attitudes, and that barriers like workload and lack of support negatively impact research involvement.
3. The objective of the presented study is to assess knowledge, attitudes, and perceived barriers to research participation among medical students in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait to inform efforts to strengthen research training in those regions.
Dr. Priya Bhave Chittawar discusses instances of research misconduct including fabrication and falsification of data. She summarizes studies that estimate 1.97% of scientists admit to falsification or fabrication, while 33% admit to other questionable research practices. She then discusses three specific cases where fraudulent research affected medical treatments: a breast cancer treatment trial where one contributor fabricated data; a study on cardioprotective diets that was found to be fraudulent; and concerns about fraudulent research on the effects of red wine on the heart. She emphasizes that research misconduct undermines scientific progress and can have serious consequences for public health.
The document discusses the principles and issues of ICMR guidelines for biomedical research involving human subjects. It provides an overview of ICMR's history of developing ethical guidelines since 1980 to protect participants. The document then outlines 12 general ethical principles that research should adhere to, including principles of essentiality, voluntariness, non-exploitation, and minimizing risks and maximizing benefits. It also discusses issues like informed consent processes, assessing risks and benefits, maintaining privacy and confidentiality, and ensuring distributive justice.
This document discusses the proper design of clinical trials in radiology. It reviews key aspects of designing a research study such as defining the research question, reviewing existing literature, determining the appropriate study design, defining the study population and variables, and ensuring precise and accurate measurements. Proper design is important for valid assessment of diagnostic tests. Some key points discussed are that the research question should be important, novel, feasible to answer, ethical, and relevant, and that diagnostic methods are commonly evaluated using randomized blinded trials.
CIOMS ethical guidelines for Biomedical Research. What is in for patients?Hibernia College
The document outlines key guidelines from the CIOMS ethical guidelines for biomedical research. [1] It discusses guidelines around social and scientific value of research, evaluating individual risks and benefits, caring for participant health needs, community engagement, use of biological materials and data, research involving vulnerable groups, women as participants, and requirements for research ethics committees. The guidelines emphasize social value of research, inclusion of women and vulnerable groups in research, engagement with communities, and governance around use of data and biological samples.
This document discusses ethics in social science and health research. It defines key terms like research, social science research, and health research. It outlines the symbiotic relationship between health and social science research, noting that social factors must be considered in health research and vice versa. The document also examines debates around ethical issues in social science research, such as power dynamics and risks to participants. It provides an overview of different types of ethics review for research protocols and discusses navigating ethics through principles like those in the Belmont Report.
The document summarizes 10 research articles on views and policies related to campus carry of concealed handguns. The articles cover topics like university presidents' perceptions of campus carry, how school shootings can be understood as organizational deviance, how fear responses can be socially learned, and studies of students' and officials' views and how conflict resolution training was implemented after shootings at one university. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used across the studies. The literature comes from various disciplines and journals and aims to help understand perspectives on campus carry and identify policies to enhance safety.
Periodontal Research: Basics and beyond – Part II (Ethical issues, sampling, ...naseemashraf2
This document summarizes key ethical and methodological considerations in periodontal research. It discusses issues like obtaining informed consent, maintaining participant confidentiality, and having research approved by an ethics committee. It also covers topics like study design, sampling methods, bias, outcome measures, and evaluating diagnostic tests. Proper planning of these elements is important for generating meaningful, valid and ethical study results.
The document discusses a pilot study conducted to examine ethical and methodological challenges of researching intimate partners of female rape victims in South Africa. The pilot study had three objectives: 1) test and refine recruitment methods for partners within two weeks of the rape for a six-month longitudinal study, 2) identify risks in recruitment and data collection that could harm participants, and 3) determine feasibility of the main study given resources. The pilot helped identify issues prior to the main study and confirmed the research design was feasible. It demonstrated how a pilot study can help address ethical problems when researching vulnerable populations.
This document summarizes a study on the experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. It discusses the high rates of rape in South Africa and reviews literature on the impact of rape on intimate partners. The study involved interviews with 9 male partners over 6 months. It identified 4 stages they progressed through: trauma awareness, crisis, adjustment, and reorganization. It also identified 2 core themes - being a secondary victim and living in multiple worlds. In the initial trauma awareness stage, partners experienced shock, disbelief, feelings of vulnerability and violation. They felt guilt and anger. Over time most partners evolved from secondary victims to survivors.
Este documento describe varios trastornos de la alimentación como la anorexia nerviosa, la bulimia, la vigorexia, la ortorexia y la obesidad. Explica que estos trastornos son enfermedades causadas por factores genéticos, psicológicos, culturales y biológicos que alteran gravemente la conducta y dieta alimentaria. También señala que estos trastornos se pueden tratar a través de la psicoterapia, atención médica, asesoramiento nutricional y medic
This document discusses research ethics and principles of medical ethics. It provides examples of unethical medical experiments that violated principles of consent, beneficence and justice. These include the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, research at Willowbrook State Hospital, and experiments conducted by Dr. Josef Mengele and the US military. It also summarizes several important ethical codes and declarations related to human subjects research, including the Nuremberg Code, Declaration of Helsinki, Belmont Report and regulations from the National Committee of BioEthics in Saudi Arabia.
Scientific Research And Ethics by Manu ShreshthaManu Shreshtha
This document presents an overview of ethics with respect to science and research. It begins with definitions of ethics and discusses ethical theories like deontology, teleology, and utilitarianism. It then examines important historical events that shaped modern research ethics like the Nazi medical experiments and the Nuremberg Code. The document outlines principles for ethical research like informed consent and protecting vulnerable subjects. It discusses ethical concerns in qualitative and quantitative research and emphasizes the importance of ethics in protecting participants and ensuring research is conducted safely and for the benefit of all.
This document discusses ethics in health research. It provides an overview of the origins and principles of ethics, including teleological and deontological perspectives. It then discusses ethics specifically in the context of health research, including how research must be useful and avoid harm. The document outlines several historical examples of unethical human experimentation, such as the Nazi experiments and Unit 731 tests during WWII. It also discusses international efforts to establish ethical guidelines, including the Nuremberg Code, Declaration of Helsinki, and Belmont Report. The core ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, justice, and respect for the environment are covered. Elements of informed consent and protections for vulnerable populations are also summarized.
Ethics seek to resolve questions of human morality regarding concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, and virtue and vice. Research ethics involves applying these principles to scientific research. Several historical abuses of human subjects in medical experiments led to the development of ethical codes like the Nuremberg Code to protect research participants. Today, Institutional Review Boards review research proposals to ensure the principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice are upheld. Researchers must obtain informed consent, protect privacy and confidentiality, minimize harm, and report results honestly.
This study explored the role of social and communicative interactions in facilitating prescription stimulant misuse among college students. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 37 students at a mid-sized university who had misused prescription stimulants. Through a qualitative analysis, they identified three primary themes in the students' discussions: 1) trusted friends prompted interpersonal use by complaining about schoolwork or directly encouraging trying the stimulants; 2) students strategically negotiated obtaining stimulants from others through partial disclosures; and 3) collective stimulant use and its social influence reinforced norms of acceptability on campus. The study suggests communicative interactions play a key role in creating environments permissive of prescription stimulant misuse.
This document discusses the identification and formulation of research problems. It begins by defining a research problem and noting that identifying a problem is the first step of the research process. It then discusses several potential sources that a research problem may come from, such as personal/practical experiences, literature reviews, previous research, theories, and social issues. The document also outlines criteria for selecting a good research problem, including significance, originality, feasibility, being solvable, being current, and being interesting to the researcher. It concludes by outlining the process of formulating a research problem from selecting a broad topic area to delimiting the topic and evaluating and stating the problem.
This document outlines a proposed study to develop and validate a new high-fidelity simulated learning environment (SLE) training module for use in audiology education. The study will have two phases: 1) development of the SLE module incorporating common errors identified by instructors, and 2) validation of the SLE module among instructors. Outcomes will provide input to improve the SLE and validate its use for basic clinical training of audiology students. Upon completion, the preliminary SLE model could be used for further research.
This document provides an overview of Jade Stevens' dissertation which examines the theoretical explanations of sexual offending. The dissertation will explore theories such as Finkelhor's Precondition Model, Marshall and Barbaree's Integrated Theory, and Ward and Siegert's Pathway Model to understand why some individuals are sexually attracted to children. It will also look at female sexual offenders and whether the theories apply differently. The document outlines Stevens' methodology, which will involve a literature review of existing research. It acknowledges some limitations around primary research due to ethical considerations of interviewing sexual offenders.
The document discusses several topics related to conducting research, including:
1. The importance of assessing knowledge, attitudes, and barriers towards research among medical students to promote research involvement.
2. Previous studies on this topic have found moderate knowledge but room for improving attitudes, and that barriers like workload and lack of support negatively impact research involvement.
3. The objective of the presented study is to assess knowledge, attitudes, and perceived barriers to research participation among medical students in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait to inform efforts to strengthen research training in those regions.
Dr. Priya Bhave Chittawar discusses instances of research misconduct including fabrication and falsification of data. She summarizes studies that estimate 1.97% of scientists admit to falsification or fabrication, while 33% admit to other questionable research practices. She then discusses three specific cases where fraudulent research affected medical treatments: a breast cancer treatment trial where one contributor fabricated data; a study on cardioprotective diets that was found to be fraudulent; and concerns about fraudulent research on the effects of red wine on the heart. She emphasizes that research misconduct undermines scientific progress and can have serious consequences for public health.
The document discusses the principles and issues of ICMR guidelines for biomedical research involving human subjects. It provides an overview of ICMR's history of developing ethical guidelines since 1980 to protect participants. The document then outlines 12 general ethical principles that research should adhere to, including principles of essentiality, voluntariness, non-exploitation, and minimizing risks and maximizing benefits. It also discusses issues like informed consent processes, assessing risks and benefits, maintaining privacy and confidentiality, and ensuring distributive justice.
This document discusses the proper design of clinical trials in radiology. It reviews key aspects of designing a research study such as defining the research question, reviewing existing literature, determining the appropriate study design, defining the study population and variables, and ensuring precise and accurate measurements. Proper design is important for valid assessment of diagnostic tests. Some key points discussed are that the research question should be important, novel, feasible to answer, ethical, and relevant, and that diagnostic methods are commonly evaluated using randomized blinded trials.
CIOMS ethical guidelines for Biomedical Research. What is in for patients?Hibernia College
The document outlines key guidelines from the CIOMS ethical guidelines for biomedical research. [1] It discusses guidelines around social and scientific value of research, evaluating individual risks and benefits, caring for participant health needs, community engagement, use of biological materials and data, research involving vulnerable groups, women as participants, and requirements for research ethics committees. The guidelines emphasize social value of research, inclusion of women and vulnerable groups in research, engagement with communities, and governance around use of data and biological samples.
This document discusses ethics in social science and health research. It defines key terms like research, social science research, and health research. It outlines the symbiotic relationship between health and social science research, noting that social factors must be considered in health research and vice versa. The document also examines debates around ethical issues in social science research, such as power dynamics and risks to participants. It provides an overview of different types of ethics review for research protocols and discusses navigating ethics through principles like those in the Belmont Report.
The document summarizes 10 research articles on views and policies related to campus carry of concealed handguns. The articles cover topics like university presidents' perceptions of campus carry, how school shootings can be understood as organizational deviance, how fear responses can be socially learned, and studies of students' and officials' views and how conflict resolution training was implemented after shootings at one university. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used across the studies. The literature comes from various disciplines and journals and aims to help understand perspectives on campus carry and identify policies to enhance safety.
Periodontal Research: Basics and beyond – Part II (Ethical issues, sampling, ...naseemashraf2
This document summarizes key ethical and methodological considerations in periodontal research. It discusses issues like obtaining informed consent, maintaining participant confidentiality, and having research approved by an ethics committee. It also covers topics like study design, sampling methods, bias, outcome measures, and evaluating diagnostic tests. Proper planning of these elements is important for generating meaningful, valid and ethical study results.
The document discusses a pilot study conducted to examine ethical and methodological challenges of researching intimate partners of female rape victims in South Africa. The pilot study had three objectives: 1) test and refine recruitment methods for partners within two weeks of the rape for a six-month longitudinal study, 2) identify risks in recruitment and data collection that could harm participants, and 3) determine feasibility of the main study given resources. The pilot helped identify issues prior to the main study and confirmed the research design was feasible. It demonstrated how a pilot study can help address ethical problems when researching vulnerable populations.
This document summarizes a study on the experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. It discusses the high rates of rape in South Africa and reviews literature on the impact of rape on intimate partners. The study involved interviews with 9 male partners over 6 months. It identified 4 stages they progressed through: trauma awareness, crisis, adjustment, and reorganization. It also identified 2 core themes - being a secondary victim and living in multiple worlds. In the initial trauma awareness stage, partners experienced shock, disbelief, feelings of vulnerability and violation. They felt guilt and anger. Over time most partners evolved from secondary victims to survivors.
Este documento describe varios trastornos de la alimentación como la anorexia nerviosa, la bulimia, la vigorexia, la ortorexia y la obesidad. Explica que estos trastornos son enfermedades causadas por factores genéticos, psicológicos, culturales y biológicos que alteran gravemente la conducta y dieta alimentaria. También señala que estos trastornos se pueden tratar a través de la psicoterapia, atención médica, asesoramiento nutricional y medic
No Longer Empty: If you cut into the Present, the future leaks out 1kozakartclass
First presentation covering artists such as Juan Betancurth, Daniel Neumann, Lady K Fever, Melissa Calderon, and Teresa Diehl
AND…Bronx architects Michael John Garvin and Oscar Florianus Bluemner
This document summarizes a study on the experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. It discusses the high rates of rape in South Africa and reviews literature on the impact of rape on intimate partners. The study involved interviews with 9 male partners over 6 months. It identified 4 stages they progressed through: trauma awareness, crisis, adjustment, and reorganization. It also identified 2 core themes - being a secondary victim and living in multiple worlds. In the initial trauma awareness stage, partners experienced shock, disbelief, feelings of vulnerability and violation. They felt guilt and anger. Over time most partners evolved from secondary victims to survivors.
New growth theory includes that real GDP per person increases due to choices people make based on profit gain from their choices and that growth persist perpetually.
It emphasizes that economic growth increase if new knowledge increase.
Peer 1 World Medical Association Declaration of Ethical Principles.docx4934bk
The document discusses several research articles that address ethical issues in various types of medical research involving human subjects. Some of the key ethical principles discussed across multiple articles include respecting participant autonomy, minimizing harm, and beneficence. The articles examine ethical considerations for research topics such as genetics, children as subjects, and the use of deception. Maintaining high scientific standards while protecting participants is emphasized.
Ethical Conduct of Researchpower point from this document, 1.docxdebishakespeare
Ethical Conduct of Research
power point from this document, 15 slides
Introduction
Depending on the context of the study, researchers often encounter ethical dilemmas that are associated with respect for privacy, establishment of honest and open interactions, and avoidance of misrepresentation. From an ethical standpoint, such challenging circumstances may surface if researchers are grappling with conflicting issues and have to choose between different methodological approaches in complex circumstances. In such circumstances, disagreements among different components including participants, researchers, researchers’ disciplines, the financing organization, and the society might be inevitable. Therefore, there are numerous ethical concerns that should be taken into account when undertaking studies that deal with human subjects. Understanding ethical principles can guide researchers to conduct studies that safeguard the wellbeing of human subjects.
Overview of the Research
In a research work titled
Resilience of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia: a Phenomenological Study
, Kumboyono et al. (2018) observe that HIV/ AIDS is among the most prevalent and expanding communicable diseases on the planet. The number of individuals who are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS continues to skyrocket every year in Indonesia and other parts of the world. According to Kumboyono et al. (2018), individuals who suffer from HIV/AIDS often plunge themselves into a series of crises, which indicate the challenges of living with the chronic pathological condition. As such, resilience is one distinct phenomenon that is common among persons living with the diseases Indonesia, a pattern that indicates the results of current health management and expectations of HIV/AIDS patients for better and improved health outcomes. In light of this concern, Kumboyono et al. (2018) undertook a study that sought to examine the mechanism of resilience in Indonesian people living with HIV/AIDS and the factors that influence their specific mechanisms.
Using qualitative phenomenological design, the researchers sampled a total of 27 people living with HIV/AIDS from a primary health care institution in Malang City, East Java, Indonesia. The participants were selected from different socioeconomic, gender, and sexual orientations. The researchers informed participants about the conduct and processes involved in the study, resulting in their consent to participate in the interview process. The findings of the study indicated that the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS reflects the onset of psychological and social distress. Moreover, Kumbomoyo et al. (2018) found that the spiritual response that follows diagnosis is a state that is characterized by crises. As a consequence, the coping strategies and understanding of life by HIV patients is a definite sign on resilience. Based on these findings, Kumbomoyo et al. (2018) infer that HIV/AIDS is a chronic infection that has the potential to induce the unique .
Building Ethics into the Research with Vulnerable Groups la71
This document discusses ethics in research involving vulnerable groups. It defines vulnerability as being caused by limited capacity or access to social goods. There are four dimensions of vulnerability: individuals, group membership, how research constructs vulnerability, and environment. Researchers must obtain free, informed, and ongoing consent, use appropriate sampling methods to avoid exclusion, and maintain confidentiality, anonymity, and participant safety. Research design should consider power dynamics and potential harms while prioritizing participant welfare, respect, and justice. Practical tactics include reporting research findings back to participants, providing follow-up support, using narrative methods, disguising personal details, and ensuring participant anonymity.
This document summarizes a case study about developing a vaccine for malaria. It discusses three key ethical requirements for clinical research: 1) social or scientific value, 2) scientific validity, and 3) favorable risk-benefit ratio. For each requirement, the document analyzes how the malaria vaccine study meets or fails to meet that standard. For example, it notes that the study design may not adequately demonstrate the vaccine's efficacy and could put participants at risk without providing therapeutic benefit.
An experimental quantitative study divided 100 operating room staff into two groups, with one using alcohol-based hand rubs and the other using traditional hand washing. Bacterial cultures found no significant difference in bacteria growth between the two groups, concluding that alcohol-based rubs and water provide the same level of protection against infections. A review of literature found that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a 34% higher risk of breast cancer. A qualitative study interviewed male and female substance abuse patients, finding that men perceived more barriers to condom use than women.
The document discusses three research questions and proposed study designs to address each question.
The first question asks whether soap and water or alcohol-based rubs are more effective in preventing infections. An experimental quantitative design is proposed to manipulate the independent variables and compare infection rates.
The second question asks about the effectiveness of anti-depressants on anxiety and depression. A qualitative design is proposed to explore patient experiences.
The third question asks about differences in male and female college students' attitudes toward condoms. A qualitative descriptive design is proposed to understand beliefs without manipulating variables. Strengths and limitations of each design are discussed.
1) The case study examines the design of a clinical trial for a malaria vaccine that aims to be scientifically valid and have a favorable risk-benefit ratio.
2) There are questions around the scientific validity of the study design, as it may not adequately demonstrate the efficacy of the vaccine and could put participants at risk.
3) Evaluating the risk-benefit ratio and ensuring the study has social or scientific value are important for ethical research. However, the case study raises issues regarding how risks to child participants are justified.
WORKING WITH COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS AS ‘VOLUNTEERS’IN A VA.docxdunnramage
This document discusses the experiences and implications of involving community health workers (CHWs) in a vaccine trial in Kenya. CHWs were initially engaged to inform community members about the trial, but over time took on roles like sharing trial information and identifying potential participants, similar to employed fieldworkers. While CHW involvement was generally positive, their different levels and forms of payment compared to fieldworkers led to some challenges in relationships and potentially influenced how CHWs communicated with community members about the trial. The experiences highlight the need to carefully consider the roles and compensation of all staff involved in community engagement for clinical trials.
Building Ethics into the Research with Vulnerable groups la71
This document discusses ethics considerations for research involving vulnerable groups. It identifies four dimensions of vulnerability and sources of vulnerability. Key ethical issues addressed include obtaining consent, power dynamics, sampling methodology, confidentiality, and research practices. Practical challenges are also discussed, such as time-consuming consent processes potentially excluding participants. Tactics for protecting participants are proposed, like disguising identities, narrative methods, and providing follow-up support. Overall, the document outlines important ethical guidelines to respectfully and equitably involve vulnerable populations in research.
The document discusses research ethics and provides guidance for researchers to conduct ethical research. It covers key topics such as the history and importance of research ethics, ethical principles researchers should follow, how to engage in ethical reflection, and how to incorporate ethical guidelines into a research project. The overall message is that researchers must prioritize ethical standards in all aspects of their work to protect participants and ensure integrity. Following principles like do no harm, obtaining informed consent, ensuring confidentiality and being transparent can help researchers stay aligned with their ethical obligations.
The document outlines a research plan that examines the underlying factors affecting the age at which women choose to have children in New Zealand. The researcher plans to use qualitative methodology and purposive sampling to conduct in-depth interviews exploring women's views on this topic. Thematic analysis will be used to identify common themes in the data regarding factors influencing birth timing. If conducted, the study could provide insights for health professionals to better support women's needs. Rigorous ethical and cultural considerations will be applied to ensure voluntary and informed participation from a diverse sample.
This document discusses the importance of research bioethics. It notes that bioethics deals with ethical issues in biomedicine and biomedical research, including research ethics, medical ethics, dental ethics, and environmental ethics. It emphasizes three core principles of ethical research: informed consent, welfare of participants, and confidentiality/anonymity of participants. The document stresses that research ethics aims to protect human subjects and ensure research is conducted safely and for the benefit of society. It also discusses the roles and responsibilities of researchers to obtain proper consent and oversight and disseminate research results in an ethical manner.
Discussion Ethical Dimensions of Research StudiesIn the best-se.docxlefrancoishazlett
Discussion: Ethical Dimensions of Research Studies
In the best-selling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Skloot, 2010), the author highlights the true story of an African-American woman who died in 1951 from cervical cancer. What makes her story unique is that prior to her death, cells from her tumor were removed and successfully grown in a petri dish. This was the first time scientists were able to successfully replicate cells outside the body, and it is estimated that billions of Lacks’ cells have been used in medical research. However, Henrietta Lacks was never asked for permission to take a sample and her family was never made aware of the widespread use of her cells. Although the culturing of her cells has been pivotal for advancing research, strong ethical concerns later arose about using these cells without patient or family approval.
This week’s readings describe historical examples of unethical research, such as a study of syphilis among African-American men in which treatment was withheld and a study in which live cancer cells were injected into elderly patients. Today, stricter controls that seek to protect study participants are placed on researchers, but breaches still occur. Careful attention must be given toward preventing unethical behavior. In this Discussion, you explore ethical considerations and issues in research.
To prepare:
Select a current health-related case involving research ethics. (If none come to mind, browse the Internet to familiarize yourself with recent cases.)
As you review the case that you have selected, reflect on the ethical principles discussed in “What Are the Major Ethical Issues in Conducting Research?” article found in this week’s Learning Resources. Which principles were breached in the case you have identified?
Post a description of the case that you selected and the ethical issues involved. Analyze the ethical principles that were breached by the researchers or organizations in your selected case as well as the possible cause of the breach(es). Suggest how the research might have been conducted differently to avoid or minimize the ethical problems. Discuss how research can be done on sensitive issues while still protecting the rights of the research subjects.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:
Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, and evidence.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own review of the literature in the Walden Library.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
Required Readings
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2017). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (10th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
Chapter 3, “Key Concepts and Steps in Qualitative and Qu.
The kemri-bioethics-review-volume-4-issue-3-1TarifMohamed
This document is the July-September 2014 issue of the KEMRI Bioethics Review. It contains articles on conducting research with vulnerable groups such as people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, sex workers, and clinical trials. The issue emphasizes the importance of protecting vulnerable subjects and obtaining informed consent. Researchers must consider how to properly include and protect vulnerable groups in ethical research.
The document discusses factors that influence people in New Zealand to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM is broadly defined as health practices outside of mainstream medicine in a given society. The New Zealand health system uses a definition of CAM as practices intended to prevent or treat illness or promote well-being that are self-defined as such by users. While New Zealand lacks recent data on CAM use, past surveys show little is known about the social and psychological reasons behind why people choose CAM. More research is needed to better understand people's motivations for using CAM in New Zealand.
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This research article conducted a SWOT analysis of the physiotherapy profession in Kuwait through 17 key informant interviews. The interviews identified strengths like funding for services and motivated professionals, as well as weaknesses such as lack of education, resources, marketing, and standardized practices. Opportunities mentioned were untapped demand, development of the physiotherapy association, and collaboration. Threats included low public awareness, challenges with interprofessional practice, and cultural views on health. The analysis concluded that opportunities exist to advance the profession through the physiotherapy association advocating for standards, research, and collaboration.
Some ethical standards to remember when conducting internet resear.docxmckellarhastings
Some ethical standards to remember when conducting internet research are privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity (Hokke et al., 2018). Anonymity implies that study subjects should be selected fairly, and so this principle is crucial since it prevents the exploitation of vulnerable groups and selection bias, which could be launched by the researcher. Anonymity also assures that the researcher does not favor one group over another when performing the investigation. Participant privacy entails protecting the privacy of human subjects engaging in research and ensuring that their personal information is kept private. Maintaining the privacy of human subjects and their information, in essence, reduces the risk of deductive closure. Furthermore, study participants must be assured that their information will not be accessible to other online researchers without their consent, and if this occurs, the individuals must offer consent.
Confidentiality signifies that the researcher must honor the agreements made with the human subjects, and that any information supplied with the researchers must not be disclosed with outsiders. Essentially, this assures that the personal information of research participants is not made public. Another ethical difficulty in internet research is consent. To protect the confidentiality and privacy of human subjects, researchers may choose to use identifiers other than the participants' real names. To avoid unwanted access, information about human subjects should be stored safely and securely, preferably in encrypted computer systems (Bender et al., 2017). Furthermore, before engaging in any research, online researchers must acquire the agreement of human subjects. To secure the agreement of research participants, researchers should explain what the research comprises and how they will protect them and their information. So far, I have learned more about my topic, and as a result, I will update the previous literature review. This is necessary to support the information presented in the review.
References
Bender, J. L., Cyr, A. B., Arbuckle, L., & Ferris, L. E. (2017). Ethics and privacy implications of using the internet and social media to recruit participants for health research: a privacy-by-design framework for online recruitment. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(4), e7029.
Hokke, S., Hackworth, N. J., Quin, N., Bennetts, S. K., Wen, H. Y., Nicholson, J. M., ... & Crawford, S. B. (2018). Ethical issues in using the internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review. PloS one, 13(9), e0204572.
Some ethical issues to keep in my when using internet-based research are anonymity, confidentiality, dignity, protection, safety, and informed consent. My sample group is small, and I did not plan on using internet-based research such as online surveys to gather my data. I am planning on using a traditional paper survey. To ensure my research is conducted ethically, I will be open and h.
The document discusses a qualitative study that explored Iranian women's experiences with breast cancer preventive behaviors. Five main themes emerged from analysis: 1) attitude toward breast cancer and preventive behaviors, 2) stress management, 3) healthy lifestyle, 4) perceived social support, and 5) individual and environmental barriers. The findings showed that women were highly motivated to engage in preventive behaviors but faced considerable challenges due to individual barriers and environmental constraints.
This document summarizes a study on the experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. Nine male partners were interviewed 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after their partner's rape. The interviews were analyzed and categorized into 4 developmental stages: trauma awareness, crisis and disorientation, outward adjustment, and reorganization. Two core themes emerged: being a secondary victim, and living in multiple worlds (of their partner, family, society, etc.). For most partners, healing occurred and they returned to pre-trauma functioning within 6 months. The study provides insight into how partners cope over time after their partner's rape and transition from secondary victims to survivors.
This document summarizes a study on the experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. It discusses the high rates of rape in South Africa and reviews literature on the impact of rape on intimate partners. The study involved interviews with 9 male partners over 6 months. It identified 4 stages they progressed through: trauma awareness, crisis, adjustment, and reorganization. It also identified 2 core themes - being a secondary victim and living in multiple worlds. In the initial trauma awareness stage, partners experienced shock, disbelief, feelings of vulnerability and violation. They felt guilt and anger. Over time most partners evolved from secondary victims to survivors.
The Lived Experience of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape...Evalina van Wijk
The document is a PhD thesis by Evalina van Wijk exploring the lived experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. It includes a declaration, abstract, dedication, acknowledgements, and table of contents. The thesis involved interviews with nine male partners of female rape victims at various intervals following the rape to understand their experiences as secondary victims. The hermeneutic-phenomenological approach was used to analyze the data and identify themes. The findings suggested male partners experience negative physical and mental effects as secondary victims and suffer in their relationships and daily functions. The thesis aims to bring awareness to this issue and advocate for support services to be extended to partners of rape victims.
The lived experience of male intimate partners of female rape victims in cape...Evalina van Wijk
This document summarizes a research presentation on exploring the lived experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. The study aimed to understand their experiences in the first six months post-rape through longitudinal interviews. Key findings included partners feeling like secondary victims, with their lives turned upside down by feelings of powerlessness, humiliation, and vulnerability. Partners struggled with feelings of guilt, uncertainty in their relationships, difficulties reestablishing intimacy and communication with their partners, and living in fear of disease. The study provided insights into the meaningful impacts on male partners after their female partner's rape.
The document is a PhD thesis by Evalina van Wijk that explores the lived experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. It includes a declaration, abstract, dedication, acknowledgements, and table of contents. The thesis involved interviews with nine male partners of female rape victims at various intervals following the rape to understand their experiences as secondary victims. The hermeneutic-phenomenological approach was used to analyze the data and identify themes. The findings indicated that male partners experience the world as secondary victims of rape and navigate multiple worlds, including those of their partners, families, professionals, and the justice system. The thesis aims to understand how rape affects male partners and formulate a framework to
The Lived Experience of Male Intimate Partners of Rape VictimsEvalina van Wijk
This document summarizes a research study presented at a conference on the lived experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. The study aimed to explore the experiences of male partners in the six months following their partner's rape. Nine partners participated in longitudinal interviews over six months. Two major themes emerged: feeling like a secondary victim of rape and living in multiple worlds. Partners experienced feelings of powerlessness, humiliation, and uncertainty in their relationships. They received little social support. The rape disrupted all aspects of their lives. The findings highlight the need for early intervention and support for male partners of female rape victims.
This chapter provides an orientation to the study by outlining the formulation of the research problem, significance of the study, research methodology, and limitations. The study aims to investigate the factors that contribute to patients' aggressive and violent behavior in mental health facilities in Cape Town, from the patients' perspectives. International research has found that environmental and situational factors play a role in violence in mental health facilities. However, there is a lack of research on this issue from a nursing perspective in South Africa. This study seeks to address that gap by exploring patients' perceptions of contributing factors to aggression and violence in local mental health facilities.
This document summarizes a researcher's experiences recruiting and retaining participants for a longitudinal qualitative study on the experiences of male intimate partners of female rape victims in South Africa. The researcher conducted a pilot study from February to July 2008 and a main study from August 2008 to August 2009. Several challenges were encountered, including participants preferring off-site interviews, a language barrier, and retention issues. Tracking strategies like frequent contact, safety measures, incentives, and preparation for termination helped address these difficulties and retain nine of sixteen main study participants. The researcher documented these lessons to inform best practices in longitudinal qualitative research.
This document discusses a pilot study conducted to evaluate the proposed methods for a larger qualitative study on the experiences of intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town, South Africa. The pilot study had three objectives: 1) assess proposed recruitment and data collection methods, 2) evaluate if the methods were suitable for the main study, and 3) determine feasibility given resource constraints. Several challenges were encountered, including slow recruitment, language barriers, and difficulties maintaining contact. Strategies were implemented such as appointing interpreters and improving communication. The pilot study provided valuable information for managing ethical issues and adjusting methods prior to the main study, confirming the overall research design was feasible.
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2. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 2013, 12
The conduct of research involving intimate partners of female rape victims raises ethical and
practical challenges for the researcher, such as recruitment and retention, confidentiality, and the
protection of vulnerable participants. These challenges can be managed through the use of pilot
studies (Campbell & Wasco, 2005; Duma, Khanyil, & Daniels, 2009). Performing a pilot study
and putting specific mechanisms in place to safeguard the ethical and human rights of potential
participants may prevent the risk of physical and emotional harm during both the pilot study and
the main study (Ellsberg & Heise, 2005; Sullivan & Cain, 2004).
The intimate partners of raped women often suffer distress and so it is suggested that they be
categorized as a vulnerable population. According to Rogers (1997), the term “vulnerability”
means to possess a degree of “susceptibility to health problems, harm or neglect” due to a level of
perceived threat (p. 65). When intimate partners are involved in research related to the rape of
someone they care for, this experience may cause a secondary victimization risk due to the
sensitive and intrusive nature of the research questions asked. Alternatively, if an intimate partner
is questioned too soon after the rape, the questioning can cause a reliving of the rape of his or her
partner. The patriarchal nature of the health system has the potential to place coercive pressure on
intimate partners to become involved in a study that actually might be perceived as a threat that
could unduly create or reopen a wound (Davis, Taylor, & Bench, 1995; Sullivan & Cain, 2004).
The ethical protection of subjects was the overriding concern for the researcher, the first author of
this article, when formulating the objectives for the pilot study described here. First, this entailed
identifying the most appropriate method for locating, contacting, and recruiting intimate partners
of female rape victims, within the first two weeks after the rape, for participation in a six-month
longitudinal study. The second objective was to identify and avoid risk factors in the proposed
recruitment and data collection methods that could harm the participants’ safety during the main
study. The third objective was to determine the feasibility of the main study, in terms of the
limited financial and human resources available. This article draws on the experience gained from
the pilot study and it aims to demonstrate how unanticipated ethical and methodological problems
were identified, processed, and overcome.
Background and Motivation for Conducting the Pilot Study
The need to conduct a pilot study prior to the main study became apparent during the proposal
development stage for a doctoral study by the researcher. From the outset it was clear that an
examination of the lived experiences of intimate partners of female rape victims in Cape Town,
South Africa, over time, would entail a longitudinal qualitative study of at least six months after
the rape. Duma (2006), in studying women’s journeys of recovery after rape, found that some of
the recruitment strategies described in the international literature on research into sexual violence
involving women had never been used in the South African context. She conducted a pilot study
to prevent any possible violation of the participants’ ethical and human rights during the main
study.
In the study described in this article, the intimate partners were regarded as a vulnerable
population because they were traumatized not only by the rape occurrence but also by the
subsequent episodes of secondary victimization at the police stations and health facilities (Van
Wijk, 2011). Some partners had even witnessed the rape. Because of their vulnerability, it was
deemed important to first conduct a pilot study with particular emphasis on the protection of the
participants’ ethical and human rights in order to entrench these in the main study.
The methods used by Davis and colleagues (1995), in their longitudinal study of intimate
partners, have not previously been used in South Africa. The note of caution expressed by Duma
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3. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 2013, 12
and colleagues (2009), therefore, further convinced the researcher to conduct a pilot study to
ensure ethical practices in a different cultural environment. The recommendations of Watson,
Atkinson, and Rose (2007) and Kilanowski (2006) about the benefits of pilot studies reinforced
this intention.
This article provides a discussion of the practical challenges identified throughout the pilot study
and it attempts to emphasize the significance of ethical considerations at all stages of the research
process. Some key issues for consideration when conducting pilot studies with vulnerable
populations are highlighted.
Literature Review
A review of the literature in the field of sexual violence revealed numerous potential ethical,
legal, and practical problems in research involving vulnerable populations. A brief discussion of
these issues is given below. The different categories and purposes of pilot studies are also
examined.
A fundamental principle of ethical research is to protect the rights and welfare of those who
volunteer to participate by putting mechanisms in place to safeguard them and to prevent possible
violation of their ethical and human rights (Edwards & Mauthner, 2002; Munro, Holmes, &
Ward, 2005; Sullivan & Cain, 2004). Regrettably, despite precautions to safeguard the
participants’ safety, ethical and legal dilemmas may occur at all stages of the research; this is
particularly true for research involving vulnerable populations (Connolly, 2003; Strydom, 2005a).
Polit and Beck (2004) referred to vulnerable subjects as a special group of people whose rights in
research studies need special protection because their circumstances place them at higher than
average risk of adverse outcomes and of susceptibility to coercive pressures.
In South Africa, the Department of Health has clear guidelines for the protection of vulnerable
groups (National Health Research Ethics Council, 2011). Moreover, the Declaration of Helsinki
of the World Medical Association (2008) frames vulnerability both in terms of examples (e.g.,
economically disadvantaged, patients in care) and in terms of criteria (e.g., cannot give consent,
refuses consent, pressured to give consent, those who will not benefit personally from research).
Therefore, research proposals need to go before ethics committees for adjudication to ensure
appropriate levels of accountability and provision for responsibility (Clayton, 2009; Sherlock &
Thynne, 2010). The current study was duly approved by the relevant university research ethics
committee.
Apart from the general ethical principles involving human subjects in clinical practice, research
with vulnerable populations appears more challenging because there are specific ethical issues to
consider when safeguarding the participants’ safety. These, as identified by various authors,
include:
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4. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 2013, 12
Table 1
Specific Ethical Issues for Safeguarding Safety of Vulnerable Populations
Specific ethical issue
Author(s)
Recognizing issues of respect, fairness, and dignity
for all those who are involved in, or affected by, the
research
Connolly, 2003, pp. 9, 27
Sullivan & Cain, 2004, p. 603
Providing a thorough description of the research
process so that potential participants have the
information needed to make an informed, voluntary
consent
Connolly, 2003, pp. 14-15
Cottingham & Jansen, 2005, p. 4
Duma, Khanyil, & Daniels, 2009, p. 53
Ensuring participants’ safety
Cottingham & Jansen, 2005, p. 3
Duma, Khanyil, & Daniels, 2009, p. 53
Avoiding unnecessary suffering
Connolly, 2003, p. 31
Duma, Khanyil, & Daniels, 2009, p. 54
Meltzoff, 2005, p. 311
Van Teijlingen & Hundley, 2001, p. 295
Honouring and maintaining anonymity,
confidentiality, and privacy
Connolly, 2003, p. 31
Duma, Khanyil, & Daniels, 2009, p. 53
Ellsberg & Heise, 2005, p. 35
Ensuring beneficence, by minimizing risks and
maximizing benefits of a study
Connolly, 2003, p. 23
Duma, Khanyil, & Daniels, 2009, p. 53
Respecting the right to withdraw from the research
at any time
Connolly, 2003, p. 30
Gubrium & Holstein, 2001, p. 76
Packer & Addison, 1989, p. 43
In particular, precautions should be taken to avoid inadvertent reinforcement of negative social
stereotypes concerning particular groups, unfair exploitation of vulnerable research participants,
and the causing of distress to people who have suffered traumatic events (Flaskerud & Winslow,
1998; Sullivan & Cain, 2004).
If researchers fail to protect the physical and psychological well-being of their participants, it can
result in distressing ethical misfortunes (Duma et al., 2009). Furthermore, before conducting
research with individuals who have experienced traumatic events, researchers should provide
arrangements for supports, if needed, during and after the research (Connolly, 2003). Researchers
and participants can become emotionally affected by the devastating impact of rape (Campbell &
Wasco, 2005; Cottingham & Jansen, 2005; Duma, 2006; Sullivan & Cain, 2004). In such
circumstances, appropriate support mechanisms should be made available for researchers and
participants alike, including debriefing sessions and the opportunity to meet with a counselor
(Connolly, 2003, p.27).
To ensure that recruitment and the actual research involving vulnerable populations are conducted
in an ethical and safe manner, researchers recommend the following:
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5. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 2013, 12
Table 2
Specific Issues for Ethical and Safe Recruitment and Research with Vulnerable Populations
Specific issue
Author(s)
Ensure that information about the research is
communicated in a way that is meaningful to the
individuals concerned.
Aitken, Gallagher, & Madronio, 2003, pp. 340-341
Connolly, 2003, p. 30
Wadensjö, 2004, p. 113
Where possible and appropriate, written as well as
verbal consent should be gained.
Connolly, 2003, p. 30
Inform participants prior to the commencement of
the research of the sensitive nature of the questions
to be asked during interviews, as well as the
procedures thereof, which would guarantee their
confidentiality, anonymity, and privacy.
Connolly, 2003, pp. 20-21
Duma, Khanyil, & Daniels, 2009, p. 53
Ellsberg & Heise, 2005, p. 35
There is a need for sensitivity concerning cultural
differences that may exist between the researcher
and the participants.
Bot, 2005, pp. 176-179
Bronsdijk, 2006, p. 4
Duma, Khanyil, & Daniels, 2009, p. 53
Gerrish, Chau, Sobowale, & Birks, 2004, p. 407
Milectic et al., 2006, p. 3
If an interpreter is involved, he or she should have
knowledge of a participant’s cultural background
and should speak the same dialect as that person.
Additionally, the interpreter should receive training
on the documents, topic, background, objectives and
purpose of the study, length of the interviews, and
procedures for maintaining confidentiality.
Bot, 2005, pp. 176-179
Bronsdijk, 2006, p. 4
Gerrish, Chau, Sobowale, & Birks, 2004, p. 407
Hsieh, 2007, pp. 410-415
Milectic et al., 2006, p. 3
Temple & Edwards, 2002, p. 2
Strategies should be put in place to deal with
participants’ immediate and ongoing emotional
needs, and where necessary, referrals should be
made to crisis support services.
Connolly, 2003, p. 34
Since recruitment of vulnerable research participants
is a complex task, locating and contacting them in
longitudinal studies should be done without
endangering their safety.
Duma, Khanyil, & Daniels, 2009, pp. 56-57
Interviews should be conducted in private and safe
settings.
Connolly, 2003, p. 34
A naturalistic paradigm of inquiry requires that participants should be located and interviewed in
their own living space. In the context of the study in question, this was regarded as an unsafe
strategy for intimate partners when their female partners were raped in or near their homes in
informal, densely populated, peri-urban shanty town settlements. All the participants gave
consent for the researcher to visit them at their homes; however, they requested that she not wear
a uniform or identification card because there was always a possibility that the perpetrators might
be from the same area. If a researcher visited the home, he or she could be viewed as part of the
police investigating team, which could potentially compromise the physical safety of both the
participant and the researcher. The study methodology should, therefore, be refined to ensure that
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participant and researcher anonymity and confidentiality are safeguarded during all phases of the
study (Duma et al., 2009; Van Wijk, 2011).
Similarly, when researchers make telephone calls for recruitment or for other purposes during the
study, they may need to consider certain rules to protect the participants’ confidentiality. For
example, they should first ask if it is suitable for the researcher to call the participant’s home and
ask for him or her, and then they should ask what would be best if someone other than the
participant answers the phone. Sullivan and Cain (2004), for example, have recommended that
the researcher begin by asking for the participant by name. Moreover, the researcher should never
assume that the person on the line is the participant, and if the participant does not answer the
call, the researcher may be asked to pretend that he or she has dialed an incorrect number. Finally,
when giving consent for participation, the participant should be asked to verify with persons
whose telephone numbers are provided as alternative contacts that they are aware they may be
contacted in the event that the participant is not reachable. These procedural precautions should
be implemented and tested when conducting a pilot study (Duma et al., 2009; Van Wijk, 2011).
Compensation Versus Coercion
Although reimbursing participants in research studies for their time and travel expenses is a wellrecognized principle, Horn (2008) stated that the payment of clinical trial participants is
contentious, particularly in the developing world. Some ethical committees regard the payment of
money as an apparent inducement to participate in a study and as being unacceptable, because the
money may influence the participant’s autonomy and ability to consent freely to participate; in
other words, it could be viewed as a form of coercion to participate. Some writers also regard
financial incentives to encourage research participation in longitudinal studies as coercive; this
view applies in particular to poor people (McKenzie, Tulsky, Long, Chesney, & Moss, 1999;
Moore, 1997; Rudy, Estok, Kerr, & Menzel, 1994). Others, however, maintain that money is a
justifiable incentive to encourage participation in research projects. Moreover, reimbursing
participants for their transport costs is acceptable as long as the researcher discusses the
reimbursement with the participants before they consent to participating in a study (Aitken,
Gallagher, & Madronio, 2003; Cooley et al., 2003; DiMattio, 2001; Gross & Fogg, 2001; Gross,
Julion, & Fogg, 2001; Lyons et al., 2004).
Deciding on an appropriate and fair amount may be difficult (McKenzie et al., 1999; Ribisl et al.,
1996). In the current pilot study, the researcher estimated a fair reimbursement for the participants’
travelling costs and for their time, without introducing coercive pressures.
Categories of Pilot Studies in Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Ideally, both qualitative and quantitative researchers should conduct a pilot study before the main
study and it should be executed in the same manner as the main study (De Vos, Strydom, Fouche,
& Delport, 2005). By conducting a pilot study, researchers can enhance the probability of
successfully completing the main study by identifying and avoiding mistakes that could otherwise
ruin the main study, such as not protecting participants’ anonymity and confidentiality or not
addressing queries regarding ethical considerations, proposed research design, logistics,
recruitment, and sampling (Thabane et al., 2010).
Duma et al. (2009) and Van Teijlingen and Hundley (2002) pointed out that there are a number of
opposing opinions on the definitions of pilot studies. Also, there are different categories and
functions of pilot studies in qualitative research. Bless and Higson-Smith (2000) contended that a
pilot study is a small-scale trial run that is conducted prior to a larger piece of research. Pilot
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7. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 2013, 12
studies, often commonly known as “feasibility,” “vanguard,” or “preliminary exploratory”
studies, have several uses in qualitative and quantitative research (Strydom, 2005b). Such studies
should be designed as a trial run to be tested on a small number of persons with the same
characteristics as those of the target group.
Various authors have written about the purposes of pilot studies (Duma et al., 2009; Kilanowski,
2006; Thabane et al., 2010; Van Teijlingen & Hundley, 2002; Watson, Atkinson, & Rose, 2007).
These purposes include:
Identify and prevent all possible risk factors, or research activities, that can be
harmful to the participant.
Identify problems that may arise during the interviews in the main study.
Convince the relevant stakeholders, including funding bodies, that the main study is
feasible and worth supporting/funding.
Refine the research question and research plan.
Address queries regarding ethical considerations, proposed research design, logistics,
recruitment, and sampling.
Ensure that data collection methods and instruments, and data analysis methodology,
are adequate and appropriate.
Improve the quality and efficiency of the main study.
Enable the researcher to engage in conducting a preliminary data analysis in order to
see whether the methodology is appropriate and to make modifications where
necessary.
Test the nature of the questions in order to make any modifications needed to ensure
a good standard of interviewing during the main study.
Get an overview of the actual situation where the planned investigation will be
executed.
Come to grips with some of the practical aspects of establishing access, making
contact, and conducting the interviews; as part of this process, interviewers may gain
insight into their interviewing skills, or lack thereof.
Determine whether the main study will be feasible in terms of the allocated financial
and human resources.
Enable the researcher to form an opinion of the openness of the respondents and their
willingness to cooperate, and also to get an idea of the number of respondents likely
to be involved until data saturation is achieved.
Identify cultural differences which might affect the outcome of the main study.
Allow for evaluation of proposed research methods through the identification and
management of any elements that could jeopardize participants’ safety or violate their
ethical and human rights, before exposing the participants in the main study to
similar problems.
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Pilot studies often reveal issues that could impact on the successful execution and completion of a
research project; nevertheless, as Van Teijlingen and Hundley (2001) have stated, many
inexperienced researchers neglect this important research step and rush to embark on the main
study. This mistake can result in scientifically unsound and unethical research, and it could
expose the research participants to risks or unnecessary inconvenience; all this could be
minimized by conducting a pilot study (Duma et al., 2009; Ellsberg & Heise, 2005). Some may
regard a pilot study as time-consuming and frustrating, but Aitken et al. (2003) believe that, in the
long run, pilot studies can add value and credibility to the entire research project.
A further concern is that pilot studies do not guarantee that the main research study will be
successful. The pilot study may not identify or solve all of the problems that the researcher may
wish to resolve before embarking on a major study. For example, researchers may fail to make
accurate predictions based on the pilot study data and may include participants and findings from
the pilot study which may then “contaminate” the main study (Duma et al., 2009; Van Teijlingen
& Hundley, 2001). Also, there seems to be very little published literature on researchers’
experiences of conducting pilot studies. This lack of a body of knowledge leads to a repetition of
avoidable ethical and practical difficulties; likewise, there is the risk to prospective research
participants of avoidable ethical and human rights violations.
Pilot Phase of the Current Study
The various issues described above alerted the researcher to the possibility that ethical and
practical difficulties could be anticipated during recruitment for the proposed longitudinal study.
The chief methodological concern was to identify an appropriate and ethically sound way for
locating, accessing, and recruiting intimate partners of women who have been sexually assaulted
and to do this within the first two weeks after the rape. The purpose was to obtain the intimate
partners’ participation in a six-month longitudinal study on the meaning that they attach to their
lived experiences.
Davis et al. (1995) conducted a study of the impact of sexual and non-sexual assault on secondary
victims, which involved contacting rape victims to gain access to their intimate partners. This
method of recruitment was adapted for the current study; however, because of the prevailing
socioeconomic and cultural differences in Cape Town, it was deemed necessary to undertake a
pilot study to test the methodology of the proposed recruitment and data collection within a
longitudinal research design.
Purpose and Methods of the Pilot Study
The proposal accepted by the University of Cape Town (UCT) Human Research Ethics
Committee (HREC) included the researcher’s methods for accessing, recruiting, and interviewing
intimate partners within the first two weeks after the rape of their female partners. Purposeful
sampling was used to select participants who met the inclusion criteria; the process followed
during the pilot phase was to be similar to the one planned for the main study. Data collection
methods included semi-structured interviews. A preliminary data analysis, using qualitative data
analysis methods, was done at the same time as the data collection. The recruitment team at the
rape centre, which was approved as the study site, met regularly with the researcher to discuss the
ethical and practical difficulties experienced during the pilot phase. The methods and processes
utilized during the pilot study are discussed below, according to three objectives.
The first objective of the pilot study was to assess the proposed methods for locating and
accessing intimate partners of female rape victims, within the first two weeks after the rape, for
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9. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 2013, 12
participation in the six-month longitudinal study. Would these procedures be appropriate and
ethically sound? Connop and Petrak (2004) have indicated that it is a complex task to recruit
intimate partners of rape victims to take part in rape research, particularly if potential participants
must be recruited via the rape victims; partners of rape victims are “often not in contact with
services and are therefore a difficult population to identify and assess” (p. 29).
To meet this objective of the pilot study, the researcher used the recruitment procedure of Davis
and colleagues (1995), who recommended that gatekeepers introduce the rape victim to the study
procedures and then allow the investigators to gain access to the intimate partner through the
victim. Establishing and maintaining collaboration with fellow professionals who had access to
rape victims at the selected recruitment site was crucial. This site is the only dedicated centre in
Cape Town that offers medical treatment and counseling to rape survivors. It services the
surrounding blue-collar suburbs and nearby informal settlements. This centre was chosen by the
researcher as the preferred recruitment site for the study because it provided access to rape
victims in a safe and controlled environment.
At first, the clinical managers of the recruitment site were informed by letter of the purpose and
significance of the study and that the necessary ethical clearance had been obtained. Once the
consent of the managers was given, a meeting was held with the medical and nursing staff of the
rape care centre to brief them on the purpose of the study, recruitment procedure, inclusion
criteria for selecting participants, required physical space, projected duration of the study, and the
role of the researcher in the study. This meeting was important to ensure cooperation of the staff
in identifying rape victims who met the study criteria, and for addressing potential areas of
confusion (Munro et al., 2005; Van Wijk, 2011).
To gain access to the intimate partners, the attending medical or nursing staff at the centre
identified female rape victims who were in an intimate relationship with a partner of any gender;
this identification was done either directly after the rape, or at their 72-hour follow-up visit. The
staff members were requested to gently inform victims of the nature of the study and to ask,
without any pressure, whether they would want to meet with the researcher. If the victim
responded positively, the researcher was summoned. The investigator was introduced to the rape
victim in a private room where she verbally explained the purpose of the study and also provided
an information document. Afterwards, the rape victim could choose to discuss the study with her
intimate partner at home. The partner, if interested, had to contact the researcher by phone within
14 days of learning of the study, and the partner had to be willing to participate in four interviews
over a period of six months.
The period of 14 days to decide on possible participation obviously did not guarantee successful
recruitment and enrollment of participants in any way. Irrespective of how convincing a
researcher is in explaining the purpose and details of a study, it cannot be assumed that potential
recruits will automatically give consent and commit themselves to participate (Sterling &
Peterson, 2004). Furthermore, the pilot study could also test how useful the information sheets
were as a recruitment strategy.
The problems with access and recruitment that were identified during the pilot phase were
centered around the staff at the study site and their understanding or interpretation of the study
protocol. The nurses reported that they were either too busy or too short-staffed, or they had
forgotten about the study. On other occasions, they contacted the researcher after the rape victim
had left the facility. Therefore, not all the rape victims with intimate partners seen at the clinic
were informed of the study. This significantly reduced the number of potential participants for
recruitment. A corrective response was for the researcher to have more regular meetings with the
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centre staff to educate them about the significance of the study and to place a poster on their
notice board as an aide memoire.
The second objective of the pilot study was to assess the proposed recruitment and data collection
methods to see whether they were suitable for the main study.
Recruitment
The problems concerning recruitment were numerous. According to staff at the study site, many
of the rape victims seen were not in intimate relationships. Although the inclusion criteria for the
study made provision for a representative sample of gender and race, only black and mixed race
men contacted the researcher during the pilot phase. No women from the White or Asian group,
who were in a relationship during the recruitment period, attended the centre during this time.
Another limitation was that potential recruits did not want to participate in interviews at their
workplaces or homes and could not attend interviews after hours or over weekends. Because they
considered the rape to be a very private issue, they said they did not have the confidence to ask
their employers for time off to attend interviews; thus, despite being interested, they could not
agree to participate. Clashes with employment schedules undoubtedly contributed to slow
recruitment and to the attrition of recruits.
During the recruitment period, the researcher received numerous “Please call me” messages from
mobile telephones. These messages might have been from potential recruits. Such calls, however,
are difficult to reply to for reasons of confidentiality. Several respondents were not Englishspeaking. It was clear that maintaining contact with potential recruits, as well as participants,
would be tenuous.
The two male participants recruited to the pilot study indicated that they preferred not to be
interviewed near their homes for reasons of safety; their partners were raped in the same area.
Both agreed to be interviewed at the researcher’s place of work because this was the most
convenient location. They received appointment cards so that the security personnel would allow
them access to the building. Interviews occurred within the first two weeks after the rape, and
then after a month, three months, and finally six months after the rape.
Intimate partners who contacted the researcher were invited to meet her individually. At that
meeting, the potential participant was given an explanation of the aims of the study and the
researcher’s role and her responsibilities concerning anonymity, confidentiality, privacy, the
informed consent process, and how the information gained would be handled in the research
process. Permission was sought to use a digital audio recorder, and the potential recruit was
reminded of the right to not answer questions with which he or she felt uncomfortable, as well as
the right to withdraw from the study without giving a reason.
Data Collection
At the initial interview, a demographic questionnaire was completed, followed by the semistructured interview schedule. The researcher started the conversation in the same manner with
each participant, as follows: “Your partner was raped on [date]. Please tell me how you felt when
you first heard about this.” The researcher encouraged participants to talk freely about their
experiences of the rape of their partners and how they had managed.
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A preliminary data analysis, using qualitative data analysis methods, was done immediately after
the data collection. Despite the researcher’s difficulties with contacting potential participants by
telephone, the main study was commenced because both participants in the pilot phase were
satisfied with the research methodology and had provided rich data in the interviews.
Another major problem, which was not initially anticipated, was that many potential recruits from
the catchment areas of the study site were not comfortable with the English language; because the
researcher also is not conversant in isiXhosa, the dominant language in the informal settlements,
the language barrier would be clearly problematic. Many callers expressed disappointment that an
interpreter would not be present. Although the researcher subsequently adjusted the methodology
to incorporate an interpreter during the interviews, the interpreter was unavailable at times
because of other work requirements or illness. The unavailability of the interpreter and the
language problem resulted in many lost opportunities and delayed recruitment.
Some potential recruits who contacted the researcher expressed their wish to talk to someone, but
when they heard that the researcher and the interpreter were women, they said they had trouble
opening up about their deepest feelings and experiences to a woman and a stranger. Some of the
questions in the semi-structured interview tool were not well understood by participants and
required rephrasing, though probing was still needed during the interviews. The pilot phase thus
enabled the researcher to make informed changes and adjustments to the semi-structured
interview before moving on to the main data collection phase.
Another major strategic adjustment to the recruitment strategy was to improve the contact with
potential recruits and with known participants. Reminding them of appointments by cellular
phone was problematic, because these phones were frequently lost, stolen, or out of air time. The
lesson from the pilot phase was that many contact numbers of friends or family should be
obtained, subject to the proviso that the participant briefed each person that the researcher may
phone them.
The researcher undertook to respond immediately to any “Please call me” cellular message
requests to prevent loss of interest. A request to inform the researcher of any change in contact
details, and the checking of existing numbers, would be repeated after each follow-up interview,
to update participant personal files. Cellular messages would be sent to participants to remind
them of the date of their next interviews. Additionally, after each interview the participants would
receive a business card with the researcher’s contact details and the date of their next interview,
as well as previously agreed upon financial reimbursement for their time and travelling costs.
Other Issues
Both of the pilot study participants reported that their partners wanted to know what they had said
to the researcher, which led to arguments and additional stress in already-strained relationships.
How these situations affected the interviews were difficult to determine.
Although using the hermeneutic-phenomenological approach of Paul Ricoeur (1995) allowed the
researcher to be part of the research process, the unintended therapeutic expectations of the
participants produced additional strain. The researcher strictly maintained the boundaries of the
researcher-participant relationship and, when necessary, the participants were referred to mentalhealth facilities. In addition, because of the emotionally-laden nature of the interviews, the
researcher identified the need to arrange intermittent limited debriefing for herself, which was not
anticipated during the development phase of the study.
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These issues, revealed during the pilot phase, allowed methodological adjustments and
improvements to be considered. To overcome the language barriers and to retain participants in
the main study, the appointment of a trustworthy interpreter, to assist with the interviews, was
arranged. This requirement and its implication for the main study were supported by the
university ethics committee, as well as by the recruitment site staff and the researcher’s two
supervisors.
The third objective of the pilot study was to determine whether it was practically feasible to
conduct the main study, given the constraints of limited financial and human resources. As
discussed below, a number of methods were used to meet this objective.
It was essential to reimburse participants, at least for their travelling expenses, because they had
no guarantee of deriving any other benefit from their participation. Although there are diverse
opinions about whether participants should be compensated for their time spent on study
participation, the researcher decided that the main focus of discussion with participants about
reimbursements should be on the issue of travel costs. It was felt that any larger amounts may be
wrongly construed, with the potential of inducing biased responses at the interviews. Because
interviews lasted between one and two hours, refreshments for both the participant and the
interpreter were to be provided. In terms of human resources, the researcher was initially the sole
research instrument in the early stage of the pilot study, although at a later stage an interpreter
was appointed for the remainder of the pilot study and the whole of the main study.
Regarding the expense account, the reality was that most participants left messages and did not
phone the researcher directly, which resulted in high telephone bills for the researcher. Some of
the potential recruits indicated that the reimbursement of R50 (7 USD) per interview, which was
offered by the researcher, was too little, and they did not turn-up for their interviews. The two
pilot participants, however, said money was not the reason for their participation and they were
satisfied with their payments. Hence, the pilot study not only timeously identified methodological
shortcomings but also informed the researcher of likely budgetary issues for the main study. The
costs of reimbursements, appointment of an interpreter, refreshments, and additional telephone
costs could be taken into consideration.
Summary and Conclusion
The focus of this pilot study was to discover and manage potential problems which could
interfere with vulnerable participants’ ethical and human rights, so that such problems could be
addressed before the main study. Other contentious methodological shortcomings could also be
identified. A pilot study, however, does not guarantee that ethical and practical problems will not
occur at a later stage; after all, not all practical situations are encountered in the pilot study and
some may remain unknown until they surface. A pilot study can, nevertheless, be viewed as a
dress rehearsal for the main investigation (Van Teijlingen & Hundley, 2001).
All three objectives of this pilot study supplied valuable information, which was used in
managing the ethical and practical issues that could have arisen during the main qualitative study
involving a vulnerable population. The ethics underpinning such a study should reflect, inter alia,
the principles of confidentiality and “doing no harm.”
It is believed that the pilot study helped this researcher to avoid and manage problems prior to the
main study by allowing modifications of the research design (Campbell & Wasco, 2005). In
practice, if other unforeseen problems should arise during the main study, the methodology can
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still be adapted and modified, provided that these changes are communicated to and approved by
the responsible ethics committee (Duma et al., 2009; Strydom, 2005b).
In conclusion, this pilot study helped to safeguard the participants’ safety and it increased the
credibility and likely success of the main study. The authors believe that this article highlights the
importance and value of conducting a pilot study. It should be seen as an integral part of the
research process, and therefore a prospective researcher should resist the temptation to leave it
out and rush headlong into the main investigation without pre-testing its design (Duma et al.,
2009; Strydom, 2005b).
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