CANDICERITA

SADIA

1. ETHICS 101: What/Why/When?

2. INTEGRATING ETHICS: Considerations in Research Design & Constraints in Practice

3. ETHICS IN CONTEXT: UofC and Tri-Council

WILL YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE?

NORMS FOR CONDUCT COMMON SENSE CODE OF ETHICS RELIGION ETHICS AND LAW ARE NOT THE SAME

ETHICS 101

“Ethics has no substantive form, has no single method and is not the domain of any one discipline or individual. Rather, ethics is best characterized as a space, a region of turbulence (rather than conflict), where the space is defined by what is at stake – values, relationships, behaviour and human flourishing. This space contains many of the things that people care about, but about which not everyone can agree” (Kerridge, Lowe & McPhee, 1998, p. 6).

ETHICS 101

Ethics is about:

1.Discourse; 2.Communication; 3.Social relationships; and 4.Politics.

ETHICS 101

Why is it important to adhere to ethical norms in research that

involves human subjects?

ETHICS 101

1. The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial of 1947;

2. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972); and

3. The Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital Case of 1963.

ETHICS 101

Voluntary participation & the right to withdraw

Informed consent Confidentiality or anonymity No harm to subjects Benefit to the society

ETHICS 101

Surprisingly…. The Canadian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics offers very little about the role of social workers as researchers.

The National Association of Social Workers (US) Code of Ethics: Promote, facilitate, and support researchVoluntarily participation & the right to

withdrawParticipants’ access to supportive servicesBenefits of research outweigh any

foreseeable risksETHICS 101

What do the NASW and CASW Code of Ethics share in common? Cause no harm to subjects; Consult institutional review boards (in the

US) and research ethics boards (Canada); Follow guidelines for informed consent; Participants’ & Research Data confidentiality Accuracy of Findings; Ethical responsibilities to the broader society

are separated from the research endeavour.

ETHICS 101

WHY?

Integrity of results Accountability

“A study cannot be a good study unless proper

ethical standards have been maintained”(Peled

and Leichtentritt 2002).INTEGRATING ETHICS

HOW?

Risk V. Benefit analysis Observation V. Intervention Ethics from start to finish The importance of peers

INTEGRATING ETHICS

Ethics as a based on moral principles(principalist paradigm) largely independent of specific circumstances.

Ethics based on a view of ethics embedded incontextual relationships (relationshipparadigm).

VS

INTEGRATING ETHICS

Physical Psychological Social Economic Legal

INTEGRATING ETHICS

1. How will you protect the anonymity of the participants?

2. How will you analzye the data? 3. How long will you keep the data? Where

and how will you keep it?4. What responsibility do you have toward

your research subjects? 5. What ethical issues/dilemmas might

come into play in deciding what research findings you publish?

6. Will your research directly benefit those who participated in the study?

INTEGRATING ETHICS

Knowledge/reflection Communication Setting limits

INTEGRATING ETHICS

INTEGRATING ETHICS

SELF Dual role (Landau 2008) Boundary issues (Landau 2008)

EXTERNAL Funder rights Political issues

INTEGRATING ETHICS

The University of Calgary has two research

ethics boards, three Animal Care Committees

and a Biosafety Committee. Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board

(CFREB); and Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board

(CHREB)

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

Located in RS and RA and is administered under Grants and Administration.

Reviews and approves research with human participants for researchers in non-medical faculties.

Covers researchers in: Communication and Culture Education

Engineering Environmental Design Law

Veterinary Medicine Fine Arts Science

Haskayne School of Business HumanitiesSocial Sciences Affiliated Institutes Social Work

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

The Research Compliance subunit assists researchers in meeting their regulatory obligations, when conducting research involving human participants, animals or biohazards.

All research, funded or not, that involves any of the above, must first be reviewed and receive approval by the appropriate certification committee.

Access to funds possible after all of the required certificates are in place.

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS).

Developed in 1998 by Canada’s three research agencies—the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

This Policy expresses the Agencies’ continuing commitment to the people of Canada to promote the ethical conduct of research involving human participants.

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

Defined as an undertaking designed to extend knowledge through a disciplined inquiry or systematic investigation.

Research to benefit human society. To maximize the benefits researchers must have certain freedoms referred to as “academic freedom.”

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

With freedoms comes the responsibility;

Responsibility to make sure that research involving human participants meets high ethical standards that respect and protect the research participants;

In advancing the pursuit of knowledge while protecting and respecting human participants.

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

ETHICAL FIELD RESEARCH

MIGRAM

A conflict of interests may arise when:Activities or situations place a person

or institution in a real, potential or perceived conflict between their duties related to research and their personal, institutional or other interests;

Researchers and students hold trust relationships with research participants, research sponsors, institutions, their professional bodies and society.

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

Conflicts of interest may compromise independence, objectivity or ethical duties of loyalty;

May jeopardize the integrity of research and the protection offered to participants; and

May distract researchers, REBs and institutions from concern for the welfare of participants.

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

Conflicts of interests may arise from: Interpersonal relationships (e.g., family or

community relationships);Financial partnerships, other economic

interests (e.g. spin-off companies in which researchers have stakes, or private contract research outside of the academic realm);

Academic interests or any other incentives that may compromise integrity, or respect for the core principles of this Policy; and

Individual’s involvement in dual and multiple roles within or outside an institution.

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

Ethical issues have always been a central feature in social work. 

Social workers have been concerned with matters of right and wrong and matters of duty and obligation. 

Social workers' concern with ethics has matured, moving from frequently moralistic preoccupation with clients' values to concern about complex ethical dilemmas faced by practitioners and strategies for dealing with these dilemmas.

Researchers may face situations where they experience a tension between the requirements of law and the guidance of ethical principles; and

Researchers themselves may be exposed to risks that may take many forms (violence, sexual assault, injury).

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

Several criticisms of professional codes of ethics were raised including:Professionals often are unclear about the

meaning and interpretation of some of the principles and how these translate into practice;

Codes do not offer guidance when goals and principles conflict;

Codes are irrelevant with practice being guided more by law and organizational procedures;

Codes are not being used in practice;ETHICS IN CONTEXT

The language of the Code is difficult to interpret;

Insufficient time to critically reflect on the Code and heavy workloads; and

Less emphasis on the Code of Ethics because of overriding organizational policies and procedures, and a perception exists that the Code does not have the same weight and respect as these factors.

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

Ask the following question when faced withethical challenges:1. What does my intuition tell me? Am I feeling stress

or self-doubt about my chosen direction? 

2. Is there an established way that my colleagues would act in the same situation? 

3. Does my profession have a set of ethical guidelines? If so, do they suggest a course of action? 

4. Are there existing laws that apply? If so, what requirements do I need to follow? 

5. What are my personal values and beliefs? What guidance do they provide?

ETHICS IN CONTEXT

In small groups, discuss the questions identified for your group (10min).

Group reporting to the class (5min).