What's in a Lie? How Researchers Judge the Justifiability of Deception

Research ethics guidance on deception does not seem to provide extensive support to researchers and ethics reviewers on how to assess the justifiability of specific deceptive studies. One potential explanation for this shortcoming is that guidance does not offer precise and coherent descriptions of the ethically relevant characteristics of deceptive studies. To facilitate the development of improved guidance, we report on the findings of interviews with a diverse group of 24 researchers who use deception. Interviewees discussed how the interests of participants, society, and researchers can be affected by characteristics of the deceptive methods used. These characteristics pertained to the deceptive act (i.e., false, truthlike, or vague information; standardized or flexible deception), participants' belief formation (i.e., credibility and suspicions), and deception-induced behaviors and experiences (i.e., consent validity, negative value, and duration of induced study behaviors and experiences). In addition, researchers described as ethically relevant the characteristics of the social context in which deceptive studies were embedded. These characteristics related to the deceiver-participant relationship and the participants' community. Overall, our study contributes to a more coherent and precise, as well as complex and nuanced, understanding of the study characteristics that affect the justifiability of deception.

To meme or not to meme? Political social media posts and ideologically motivated aggression in job recommendations

This study tested the notion of ideological asymmetry, which proposes that conservatives are more prejudiced than liberals. It involved 682 self-identified conservative (n = 383) and liberal (n = 299) perceivers (MTurk workers; 54% female) who evaluated a target person's professional attributes, personal character, and job suitability based on the target's social media posts. The results did not support ideological asymmetry as both conservative and liberal participants negatively evaluated an ideologically opposite target. Interestingly, liberals showed three times more bias than conservatives. This study better supports a worldview conflict hypothesis, an alternative to ideological asymmetry, with both sides showing indirect aggression in an apolitical setting.

Assessing the acceptability of individual studies that use deception: A systematic review of normative guidance documents

Research participants are often deceived for methodological reasons. However, assessing the ethical acceptability of an individual study that uses deception is not straightforward. The academic literature is scattered on the subject and several aspects of the acceptability assessment are only scarcely addressed, which parallels reports of inconsistent ethics review. Therefore, we aimed to investigate where normative guidance documents agree and disagree about this assessment. A PRISMA-Ethics-guided systematic review of normative guidance documents that discuss deception of research participants was conducted. Our search strategy resulted in 55 documents that were subsequently analyzed through abductive thematic analysis. While guidance documents mention little about specific risks and opportunities of deception, our analysis describes a rich picture of the thresholds for acceptability of the risks and benefits of deception and their integration, the comparison with the risk-benefit analysis of alternative non-deceptive methods, and the bodies of people who are positioned to do the review. Our review reveals an agreement on the general process of assessing the acceptability of studies that use deception, although significant variability remains in the details and several topics are largely or completely unaddressed in guidance documents.

Prosocial motives underlie scientific censorship by scientists: A perspective and research agenda

Science is among humanity's greatest achievements, yet scientific censorship is rarely studied empirically. We explore the social, psychological, and institutional causes and consequences of scientific censorship (defined as actions aimed at obstructing particular scientific ideas from reaching an audience for reasons other than low scientific quality). Popular narratives suggest that scientific censorship is driven by authoritarian officials with dark motives, such as dogmatism and intolerance. Our analysis suggests that scientific censorship is often driven by scientists, who are primarily motivated by self-protection, benevolence toward peer scholars, and prosocial concerns for the well-being of human social groups. This perspective helps explain both recent findings on scientific censorship and recent changes to scientific institutions, such as the use of harm-based criteria to evaluate research. We discuss unknowns surrounding the consequences of censorship and provide recommendations for improving transparency and accountability in scientific decision-making to enable the exploration of these unknowns. The benefits of censorship may sometimes outweigh costs. However, until costs and benefits are examined empirically, scholars on opposing sides of ongoing debates are left to quarrel based on competing values, assumptions, and intuitions.

Informed Consent and Debriefing When Deceiving Participants: A Systematic Review of Research Ethics Guidelines

Informed consent and debriefing of research participants in studies that use deception are ethical safeguards for which existing scholarly work on their implementation remains variable and insufficiently clear. A systematic review of research ethics guidelines was conducted to sketch a picture of whether, why and how informed consent and debriefing are recommended when using deception. Documents roughly agreed on several general principles, but varied significantly in the specifics of why and whether these safeguards are necessary, in which conditions and how they should be implemented. Various aspects that appear in the literature could not be found in the guidelines. In our review, guidance was integrated and showed a variation of implementation strategies that could help in contextualizing these safeguards.

Algorithmic Political Bias in Artificial Intelligence Systems

Some artificial intelligence (AI) systems can display algorithmic bias, i.e. they may produce outputs that unfairly discriminate against people based on their social identity. Much research on this topic focuses on algorithmic bias that disadvantages people based on their gender or racial identity. The related ethical problems are significant and well known. Algorithmic bias against other aspects of people’s social identity, for instance, their political orientation, remains largely unexplored. This paper argues that algorithmic bias against people’s political orientation can arise in some of the same ways in which algorithmic gender and racial biases emerge. However, it differs importantly from them because there are (in a democratic society) strong social norms against gender and racial biases. This does not hold to the same extent for political biases. Political biases can thus more powerfully influence people, which increases the chances that these biases become embedded in algorithms and makes algorithmic political biases harder to detect and eradicate than gender and racial biases even though they all can produce similar harm. Since some algorithms can now also easily identify people’s political orientations against their will, these problems are exacerbated. Algorithmic political bias thus raises substantial and distinctive risks that the AI community should be aware of and examine.

Prejudice Against Citizens with Right-aligned Political Views in Western Cosmopolitan Cities, and Possible Interventions

Prejudice against citizens with right-aligned political views in western cosmopolitan cities was explored, and possible interventions proposed. Literature and theories were reviewed, with social psychological and sociological theories compiled that explain the reasons for this prejudice and an intervention to solve this problem. Scientific research in social sciences is dominated by bias from left-aligned researchers in social psychology and psychology. Dysfunctional scientific processes prominent in this area of sciences are due to the sacralization of social science. A significantly small percent of social and personality psychologists identify as politically conservative. A significant amount of errors and distortions were found in sociology textbooks. Media and corporation biases toward left-aligned political views were found, and right-aligned individuals are out-group members in cosmopolitan cities. Inoculation by media assignments and critical literacy education is proposed, that could prevent school students from being influenced by stealth messages and propaganda. Media campaigns targeting the full spectrum of political views is proposed, that could help reduce biases of citizens. A family and community health class is proposed, that could improve student’s psychological, family, and social health. Youth and adult clubs are proposed, that could help reduce animosity between social groups, and promote solidarity and community health.

Partisan Bias and Its Discontents

Baron and Jost (this issue, p. 292) present three critiques of our meta-analysis demonstrating similar levels of partisan bias in liberals and conservatives: (a) that the studies we examined were biased toward finding symmetrical bias among liberals and conservatives, (b) that the studies we examined do not measure partisan bias but rather rational Bayesian updating, and (c) that social psychology is not biased in favor of liberals but rather toward creating false equivalencies. We respond in turn that (a) the included studies covered a wide variety of issues at the core of contemporary political conflict and fairly compared bias by establishing conditions under which both liberals and conservatives would have similar motivations and opportunities to demonstrate bias; (b) we carefully selected studies that were least vulnerable to Bayesian counterexplanation, and most scientists and laypeople consider these studies demonstrations of bias; and (c) there is reason to be vigilant about liberal bias in social psychology, but this does not preclude concerns about other possible biases, all of which threaten good science. We close with recommendations for future research and urge researchers to move beyond broad generalizations of political differences that are insensitive to time and context.

A proposed model for evaluating the impact of participating in trauma-focused research

This article describes the development of a model for assessing levels of risk in trauma-focused research, with evidence for the empirical validity of the model being provided by findings from a study of 438 undergraduate students who participated in a survey regarding past-year exposure to intimate partner violence. A minor increase in risk over minimal risk was found to constitute the modal risk category, with evidence for the empirical validity of the model being provided by the fact that levels of risk assessed by the model were associated with anticipated decreases in the proportion of positive cost–benefit ratios, with different levels of risk being predicted by a unique constellation of risk factors. These findings are discussed with respect to their implications for further research and in relation to the way in which the impact of trauma-focused research is conceptualised.

Who Decides What Is Acceptable Speech on Campus? Why Restricting Free Speech Is Not the Answer

Recent protests on dozens of campuses have led to the cancellation of controversial talks, and violence has accompanied several of these protests. Psychological science provides an important lens through which to view, understand, and potentially reduce these conflicts. In this article, we frame opposing sides' arguments within a long-standing corpus of psychological research on selective perception, confirmation bias, myside bias, illusion of understanding, blind-spot bias, groupthink/in-group bias, motivated skepticism, and naive realism. These concepts inform dueling claims: (a) the protestors' violence was justified by a higher moral responsibility to prevent marginalized groups from being victimized by hate speech, versus (b) the students' right to hear speakers was infringed upon. Psychological science cannot, however, be the sole arbiter of these campus debates; legal and philosophical considerations are also relevant. Thus, we augment psychological science with insights from these literatures to shed light on complexities associated with positions supporting free speech and those protesting hate speech. We conclude with a set of principles, most supported by empirical research, to inform university policies and help ensure vigorous freedom of expression within the context of an inclusive, diverse community.

Empowered or Discouraged? A Study of People with Learning Disabilities and their Experience of Engaging in Intimate Relationships

Vulnerable people constitute the majority of referrals to occupational therapy services, due to age and social, psychological and economic circumstances. People with learning disabilities may fit all these categories. An argument has been put that vulnerable people should not be subjects in research (de Raeve 1994) and that there may be unacceptable risks in being a subject in a socially sensitive research project (Barnitt and Partridge 1999). However, avoiding research with people with learning disabilities would mean that the voice of these clients would not be heard and it is known that they have expressed the wish to be consulted and involved in research (Atkinson 1989).

A collaborative study was carried out with eight adults with learning disabilities who lived in a community residential home. Interviews were completed which dealt with aspects of intimate relationships. Three themes emerged from the interviews: the experience of intimate relationships, the future of a current relationship and the involvement of others in relationships. The findings showed that the people interviewed had a generally positive experience of such relationships. However, while the attitudes of staff and family towards intimate relationships were mostly empowering, some negative views still existed. The results have implications for occupational therapists working with people with learning disabilities.

Institutional review boards: A flawed system of risk management

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and their federal overseers protect human subjects, but this vital work is often dysfunctional despite their conscientious efforts. A cardinal, but unrecognized, explanation is that IRBs are performing a specific function – the management of risk – using a flawed theoretical and practical approach. At the time of the IRB system’s creation, risk management theory emphasized the suppression of risk. Since then, scholars of governance, studying the experience of business and government, have learned that we must distinguish pure from opportunity risks. Pure risks should be suppressed. Some opportunity risks, in contrast, must be accepted if the institution is to meet its goals. Contemporary theory shows how institutions may make these decisions wisely. It also shows how a sound organizational understanding of risk, a proper locus of responsibility, and appropriate institutional oversight all contribute to effective risk management. We can apply this general theory, developed in other contexts, to the problems of the IRB system. Doing so provides a unifying explanation for IRBs’ disparate dysfunctions by spotlighting five related deficiencies in IRB theory and structure. These deficiencies are (i) inability to focus on greater risks, (ii) loss of balanced theory, (iii) inaccessibility to guidance from senior leadership, (iv) unbalanced federal oversight, and (v) inflexibility. These flaws are deeply rooted in the system, and superficial reform cannot resolve them. Congress should overhaul the system to meet contemporary standards of risk management; this would benefit subjects, scientists, and the public that needs the fruits of research.

The psychology of psychology: A thought experiment

In the target article, Duarte et al. allege that the lack of political diversity reduces research efficacy. We pose a thought experiment that could provide an empirical test by examining whether institutional review board (IRB) members, granting agencies, and journal reviewers filter scientific products based on political values, invoking scientific criteria (rigor, etc.) as their justification. When these same products are cast in terms highlighting opposite values, do these people shift their decisions?

The potential therapeutic value for bereaved relatives participating in research: An exploratory study

OBJECTIVE

Conducting research with the bereaved presents an immediate ethical challenge, as they are undoubtedly a vulnerable group, associated with high levels of distress and susceptible to both physical and mental health issues. A comprehensive understanding of the potential therapeutic benefits for bereaved relatives participating in palliative care research is limited, and therefore the ethics of engaging this group remain questionable.

METHOD

This paper describes a secondary analysis of qualitative data collected in the Care of the Dying Evaluation (CODE) project, examining the experiences of patients who died at home. It explores the motivations and potential benefits for bereaved relatives participating in research with reference to the recently developed concepts in bereavement theory. Cognitive interviews were conducted with 15 bereaved relatives and secondary analysis using a content analysis framework was employed to classify the data.

RESULTS

The results center around six recurring concepts identified as adaptive in current bereavement theory: an opportunity to share the narrative accounts of the final hours of their relative's life; a search for sense and meaning in loss; an ongoing bond/attachment with the deceased; altruistic motivations; oscillation between loss and restorative orientations; and a sense of resilience. Overall, the participants found that taking part in the research was valuable and that it could be described as offering therapeutic benefits.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS

The need for bereaved relatives to take part in research studies should be encouraged, as they provide an accurate proxy for the patient's experience of end-of-life care while also providing a valuable account of their own perspective as family member and carer. In addition, we highlight the need for ethics committees to be aware of the potential benefits for bereaved relatives participating in research of this kind.

Adolescents' reactions to participating in ethically sensitive research: a prospective self-report study

BACKGROUND

Conducting psychological research with adolescents is imperative for better understanding, prevention and treatment of mental illness. However there is concern that research addressing topics such as mental illness, substance use and suicidality has potential to distress participants, particularly youth.

METHOD

We administered a questionnaire to 1973 adolescents (13-18 years) at two time points, one year apart. Participants responded to items regarding nonsuicidal self-injury, psychological distress, history of physical and/or sexual abuse, adverse life events, alcohol use, suicidal behaviour, self-efficacy, and coping skills as well as two open-ended questions regarding whether they enjoyed participating in the research and whether participation worried or upset them.

RESULTS

Most youth (74 %) enjoyed participation and cited altruistic reasons and a greater self-awareness as reasons. Those reporting being upset by the questionnaire (15 %) reported poorer psychological functioning than their peers. Youth who were upset by their participation at baseline, but who reported enjoying the questionnaire at follow-up reported improved psychosocial functioning over time, while the reverse was true for those who initially enjoyed participation but later reported the questionnaire upset them.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest researchers acknowledge benefits for young people who participate in research, but also be mindful of the potential for distress among the most at risk youth.

The politics of corporate social responsibility or: why Milton Friedman has been right all along

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to revisit the debate and reorient research on corporate social responsibility (CSR), empirically documents the political-ideological biases inherent in CSR. It concludes with possible remedies to this problem.

Design/methodology/approach

– The approach taken in this literature review is informed by the author’s viewpoint on the growing industry of social activists, who are pushing business toward the adoption of an ever-growing panoply of quasi-regulations commonly identified as CSR. The approach is complemented by a critique of stakeholder theory.

Findings

– The literature review provides empirical support for Milton Friedman’s (1970) claim that the values underpinning CSR are driven by a socialist-collectivist agenda, which is inherently opposed to capitalist/libertarian values of free enterprise and individualism.

Practical implications

– Without critical reflection on the leftwing ideology instantiated by CSR, the business community may unwittingly adopt and sustain values that undermine free markets.

Originality/value

– Without critical reflection on the leftwing ideology instantiated by CSR, business and research communities may unwittingly promote values that, stealth-like, undermine individual liberty and the capitalist foundations of free markets.

Political diversity will improve social psychological science

Psychologists have demonstrated the value of diversity--particularly diversity of viewpoints--for enhancing creativity, discovery, and problem solving. But one key type of viewpoint diversity is lacking in academic psychology in general and social psychology in particular: political diversity. This article reviews the available evidence and finds support for four claims: (1) Academic psychology once had considerable political diversity, but has lost nearly all of it in the last 50 years. (2) This lack of political diversity can undermine the validity of social psychological science via mechanisms such as the embedding of liberal values into research questions and methods, steering researchers away from important but politically unpalatable research topics, and producing conclusions that mischaracterize liberals and conservatives alike. (3) Increased political diversity would improve social psychological science by reducing the impact of bias mechanisms such as confirmation bias, and by empowering dissenting minorities to improve the quality of the majority's thinking. (4) The underrepresentation of non-liberals in social psychology is most likely due to a combination of self-selection, hostile climate, and discrimination. We close with recommendations for increasing political diversity in social psychology.

Anxious and non-anxious adolescents' experiences of non-clinical magnetic resonance imaging research

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become a ubiquitous research tool for developmental neuroscientists interested in brain structure and function in children and adolescents. However, ethical concerns are sometimes raised about using MRI with children and adolescents, especially when participants have anxiety. We asked 17 clinically/sub-clinically anxious and 19 non-anxious adolescents about their experiences of taking part in MRI for research purposes. Although the anxious group reported experiencing more anxiety during the scan, these differences had attenuated by the time participants got home. We found no evidence that anxious adolescents would be less likely to choose to have another scan or would feel more nervous during another scan. There was some evidence that more trait anxious adolescents found the MRI study enjoyable. These findings should give ethics committees, clinicians, and parents confidence that so long as researchers exercise appropriate care, MRI research is acceptable to adolescents, including those with clinical anxiety.

Children's Perception of Research Participation: Examining Trauma Exposure and Distress

USING THE REACTIONS TO RESEARCH Participation Questionnaire for Children (RRPQ-C), this study examined perceptions of research participation among 181 school-aged children with and without trauma histories. As part of two larger studies, children completed non-trauma related tasks to assess emotion understanding and cognitive ability. Parents (and not children) reported on children's interpersonal (e.g., sexual abuse, physical abuse, witnessing domestic violence, witnessing community violence) and non-interpersonal (e.g., motor vehicle accidents, medical traumas, natural disasters) trauma exposure. Children's perceptions of costs and benefits of research participation and understanding of informed consent did not vary as a function of trauma exposure. The number of traumatic events experienced was unrelated to children's perceptions. Furthermore, children across trauma-exposure groups generally reported a positive cost-benefit ratio, and understanding of the consent information. Implications of these data are discussed.

U. S. Health Researchers Review their Ethics Review Boards: A Qualitative Study

VIRTUALLY ALL RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN subjects in the United States must be reviewed by an institutional review board, a form of research ethics review board. This article reports the results of qualitative research on how investigators regard this regulatory regime. Interviews were conducted with forty investigators conducting health-related research. Most respondents shared the regulations' goals, but doubted that the regulations, as implemented, promoted these goals efficiently, effectively and fairly. The interviews suggest that efforts to raise researchers' ethical consciousness have been, over time, quite successful, but that implementation of the regulations remains problematic. Research aimed at better defining the problem to be solved b y the r egulatory sy stem, and at a ssessing the effectiveness of the regulatory tools for solving properly defined problems, could guide a more productive debate about human subject protection.

Procedure versus process: ethical paradigms and the conduct of qualitative research

BACKGROUND

Research is fundamental to improving the quality of health care. The need for regulation of research is clear. However, the bureaucratic complexity of research governance has raised concerns that the regulatory mechanisms intended to protect participants now threaten to undermine or stifle the research enterprise, especially as this relates to sensitive topics and hard to reach groups.

DISCUSSION

Much criticism of research governance has focused on long delays in obtaining ethical approvals, restrictions imposed on study conduct, and the inappropriateness of evaluating qualitative studies within the methodological and risk assessment frameworks applied to biomedical and clinical research. Less attention has been given to the different epistemologies underlying biomedical and qualitative investigation. The bioethical framework underpinning current regulatory structures is fundamentally at odds with the practice of emergent, negotiated micro-ethics required in qualitative research. The complex and shifting nature of real world settings delivers unanticipated ethical issues and (occasionally) genuine dilemmas which go beyond easy or formulaic 'procedural' resolution. This is not to say that qualitative studies are 'unethical' but that their ethical nature can only be safeguarded through the practice of 'micro-ethics' based on the judgement and integrity of researchers in the field.

SUMMARY

This paper considers the implications of contrasting ethical paradigms for the conduct of qualitative research and the value of 'empirical ethics' as a means of liberating qualitative (and other) research from an outmoded and unduly restrictive research governance framework based on abstract prinicipalism, divorced from real world contexts and values.

Doing more good than harm? The effects of participation in sex research on young people in the Netherlands

Ethical guidelines for research with human participants stress the importance of minimizing risks and maximizing benefits. In order to assist Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and researchers to make more informed risk/benefit analyses with regard to sex research among adolescents, the current study examined the effects of participation in sex research among 899 young people (15-25 years old). Participants completed three questionnaires on a wide range of sexuality-related measures. They also completed scales measuring their levels of distress, need for help, and positive feelings due to their research participation. In general, negative effects of research participation seemed limited, while benefits of participation appeared substantial. Several differences with regard to sociodemographic characteristics were found (e.g., females experienced more distress then males and younger or lower educated participants experienced more positive feelings). In addition, victims of sexual coercion reported more distress and need for help due to their participation, but also experienced more positive feelings. No significant differences were found in relation to experience with sexual risk behaviors (e.g., experience with one-night-stands). Several limitations of the study were discussed, as were implications for future research. Overall, the findings caution IRBs and researchers against being overly protective regarding the inclusion of young people in sex research.

Research participation experiences of parents of children with cancer who were asked about their child's prognosis

BACKGROUND

In questionnaire-based research, human subject protection committees must assess the emotional impact of the study on participants. Without clear data about the risks and benefits of participating in such studies, however, review board members must use personal judgment to assess emotional harm.

OBJECTIVE

To examine experiences of distress and value of participation in a study of prognosis communication among parents of children with cancer, and to identify factors associated with predominantly distressing research experiences.

METHODS

We surveyed 194 parents of children with cancer (overall response rate, 70%), treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital, Boston, Mass, in the first year after the child's cancer diagnosis. The survey focused on the child's prognosis and parent-physician communication; at the end, we asked parents how distressing and how useful completing the survey had been to them personally.

RESULTS

Only 1% of parents found research participation to be "very" distressing. The majority of parents were "not at all" distressed by participating (62%), and most reported that the questionnaire was at least "a little" useful to them personally (69%). Overall, 18% of parents gave higher ratings for distress than for utility. Parents were more likely to experience research participation as predominantly distressing when they found prognostic information to be upsetting (odds ratio [OR] 5.38, p=0.005).

CONCLUSION

Most participating parents were able to respond to questions about their child's prognosis with little or no distress. Even when distress was present, it was often accompanied by a perception that participating was of value.

Respondents' experiences of completing a retrospective web-based, sexual trauma survey: does a history of sexual victimization equate with risk for harm?

This study investigated respondents' experiences of completing a retrospective web-based survey exploring sexual revictimization. The original survey provided a link to a separate mixed-methods survey assessing the impact of participation. Of the original 481 respondents, 234 completed this follow-up survey. Eighty percent were female and 52% reported histories of sexual victimization (SV). Newman, Willard, Sinclair, and Kaloupek's (2001) Reactions to Research Participation Questionnaire was adapted to suit this web-based design, and several open-ended questions were included. The statistical analysis revealed that those who experienced SV reported higher levels of distress and personal benefit and were less likely to be inconvenienced by participation. However, higher levels of benefit did not always compensate for greater levels of distress, particularly for those with more recent and more extensive histories of SV. The thematic analysis of the qualitative responses is discussed and suggestions are offered for the design of more ethically sensitive research protocols and practices.

Impact on prisoners of participating in research interviews related to near-lethal suicide attempts

BACKGROUND

Prisoners have a high risk of suicide. Research studies have investigated factors contributing to this, some through interviews with survivors of suicide attempts, others with informants such as family and friends of suicide victims. However, there is little information regarding the effects of participating in such interviews.

AIMS

To investigate the effects on participants of taking part in detailed interviews about suicidal behaviour and contributory factors.

METHOD

Case-control studies of 120 prisoners who made near-lethal suicide attempts (cases) and 120 prisoners who had never carried out near-lethal suicide attempts in prison (controls) were conducted. Information regarding effects on prisoners of participating in the interviews was collected using quantitative and qualitative methods.

RESULTS

For both male cases and controls, and female controls, self-reported mood levels improved significantly by the end of the interviews. For female cases, the interviews had no negative effect on their self-reported mood. Whilst some prisoners found the interviews upsetting, nearly all said they were pleased to have participated.

LIMITATIONS

The same researchers carried out the interviews and collected data on the effects of participation. Also, several potential participants were excluded from the study and the likely effect of the interview on them is unknown.

CONCLUSIONS

We found little evidence that participation of prisoners in interview-based research on suicidal behaviour has negative effects on them; indeed, it can be beneficial. Inclusion of similar instruments to measure the effects of research participation in future investigations could provide valuable feedback to researchers and ethics committees.

Ethics Review in a Developing Country: A Survey of South African Social Scientists' Experiences

We report the findings of a preliminary study of social science researchers' experiences of ethics review from a developing country perspective. Social science researchers' experiences of ethics review were coded as negative (42.6%), positive (21.3%), or mixed (36.2%). Ethics review was primarily experienced as negative for pragmatic reasons such as slow turnaround time, inadequate review and problems with the centralization of review. Our finding that South African researchers experience the same problems and frustrations with RECs as developed country researchers affirms that South Africa's problems with ethics review are not due to it being a less developed system, but to general review practices as they arise naturally in institutions. Developing countries thus have a unique opportunity to learn from the reported dissatisfactions and mistakes of developed countries, to avoid procedures that have hindered ethics review of much social science research in developed countries, and to fashion their own review procedures in ways that are more appropriate to key ethical issues arising in social science research and local conditions and resources.

Assessing social risks prior to commencement of a clinical trial: due diligence or ethical inflation?

Assessing social risks has proven difficult for IRBs. We undertook a novel effort to empirically investigate social risks before an HIV prevention trial among drug users in Thailand and China. The assessment investigated whether law, policies and enforcement strategies would place research subjects at significantly elevated risk of arrest, incarceration, physical harm, breach of confidentiality, or loss of access to health care relative to drug users not participating in the research. The study validated the investigator's concern that drug users were subject to serious social risks in the site localities, but also suggested that participation in research posed little or no marginal increase in risk and might even have a protective effect. Our experience shows that it is feasible to inform IRB deliberations with actual data on social risks, but also raises the question of whether and when such research is an appropriate use of scare research resources.

Do IRBs Pass the Minimal Harm Test?

We describe examples of institutional review board (IRB) actions that have delayed or thwarted research that could not conceivably be considered to pose more than minimal risk to participants. We propose three changes to improve the IRB process and reduce both human and financial costs.

Human subjects protections in biomedical enhancement research: assessing risk and benefit and obtaining informed consent

The protection of human subjects in biomedical research relies on two principal mechanisms: assessing and comparing the risks and potential benefits of proposed research, and obtaining potential subjects' informed consent. While these have been discussed extensively in the literature, no attention has been paid to whether the processes should be different when the objective of an experimental biomedical intervention is to improve individual appearance, performance, or capability ("enhancement research") rather than to prevent, cure, or mitigate disease ("health-oriented research"). This essay examines this question in order to ensure that subjects in biomedical enhancement research receive adequate protection.

Child and parent reactions to participation in clinical research

BACKGROUND

Psychological and psychiatric research studies in medical settings often enroll children who are ill, injured, coping with pain or undergoing stressful medical procedures. Yet empirical evidence to date regarding the effects of research on these participants is scarce. This study assessed reactions of injured children and their parents to research participation and examined associations with demographic, injury and acute stress variables.

METHODS

Administered standard research reactions questionnaires to 203 injured children (5-17) and 200 parents participating in a study of acute posttraumatic stress.

RESULTS

Fifty-two percent of children and 74% of parents were glad they had participated; 77% of children and 90% of parents felt good about helping others. Self-reported distress from study participation was uncommon (5% of children and parents). Child age was associated with more positive appraisals of the research process and with greater trust in and information about elements of informed consent.

CONCLUSIONS

Participation in a research interview following traumatic injury had little risk of generating distress for children or parents. The most commonly reported positive aspect of research participation was feeling good about helping others. This study supports the feasibility of incorporating standardized assessment of participant reactions in clinical research protocols.

Bereaved parents’ experience of research participation

Despite the ethical codes guiding bereavement research, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the perceived stress experienced by the bereaved, and to explore which methodologies cause least distress. This article investigates how bereaved and traumatised populations experience research participation, and they voice their recommendations for future research. The data are from a nationwide three-phase study in Norway among parents who had lost their child by suicide, SIDS, and accidents between July 1, 1997 and December 31, 1998. Whereas the first phase reported quantitative results of perceived psychosocial health and focused on offered and ideal support (N=262), the second phase investigated the same issues through in-depth interviews of a sub sample (N=69). Phase three, reported here, included the responses of 64 parents to a short questionnaire evaluating research participation in the two previous phases. The results show that 100% of the parents experienced participation as "positive"/"very positive", and none regretted participating. They linked the positive experiences to being allowed to tell their complete story, the format of the interview, and a hope that they might help others. Apparently, processes of meaning reconstruction and increased awareness of the bereavement process were facilitated by the interviews. However, three-quarters of the interviewees reported that it was to a greater or lesser degree painful to talk about the traumatic loss. Regression analysis showed that being a woman and high levels of psychic distress were the most important predictors of a painful interview experience. In order to protect bereaved and vulnerable populations from harm, already existing ethical codes must be strictly applied, and the researchers must listen respectfully to recommendations from bereaved parents.

Qualitative methods in end-of-life research: recommendations to enhance the protection of human subjects

Qualitative research has the potential to contribute important new knowledge to care near the end of life, but research is often hampered by questions about how best to protect dying patients and their family members who serve as research subjects. Due to lack of familiarity with the techniques of ethnographic or observational research, as well as concerns about the vulnerability of the dying, members of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are often unable to evaluate the benefits and potential harms of studies. In addition, policies derived from standards based on interventional medical research or clinical trials may be applied inappropriately. We offer comprehensive recommendations aimed at improving the translation of human subjects guidelines into meaningful protections for subjects in qualitative studies, including education for IRBs. Policies must be flexible and should be guided by empirical findings documenting the actual impact of research participation, rather than a priori assumptions about patient vulnerability. Sensitive topics, such as drug use, may require added protections.

Empirically supported ethical research practice: the costs and benefits of research from the participants' view

Researchers and institutional review boards are routinely called upon to evaluate the cost-benefit status of proposed research protocols that involve human participants. Often these assessments are based on subjective judgments in the absence of empirical data. This reliance on subjective judgments is of particular concern for studies involving clinical samples where unfounded assumptions may adversely affect research progress or clinical outcomes. The Reactions to Research Participation Questionnaire (RRPQ) was designed to address this shortcoming and to help promote ethical decision making about research practice. The present study describes development of the RRPQ and presents a series of exploratory and confirmatory analyses investigating its structure. Based on these findings, a revised version of the instrument and suggestions for future research are presented. This approach provides a foundation for scientifically informed protection of human subjects.

The reactions to research participation questionnaires for children and for parents (RRPQ-C and RRPQ-P)

Systematic assessment of the effect of clinical research studies on child and parent participants has been limited. Such assessment could provide an empirical basis for the ethical conduct of research, assisting investigators and institutional review boards in balancing the need for sound research with the need to protect study participants. The Reactions to Research Participation Questionnaire for Children (RRPQ-C) and the RRPQ for Parents (RRPQ-P) are brief measures designed to assess child or parent views of clinical research studies. Both measures were piloted and then administered as part of an interview-based study of traumatically injured children and their parents, to assess their psychometric properties and potential usefulness as addenda to future study protocols. The RRPQ-C and RRPQ-P each demonstrated acceptable internal consistency. Exploratory factor analyses provided general support for their conceptual basis. Both were easily administered and well-accepted by respondents. There is evidence that children and adults were willing to answer honestly, even about negative responses. Brief measures such as the RRPQ-C and RRPQ-P may provide a practical and empirically informed method for assessing children's and parents' responses to research participation. Investigators should consider including systematic standardized assessment of participant reactions in child clinical research studies.

Conducting industrial and organizational psychological research: institutional review of research in work organizations

Although informed consent is a primary mechanism for ensuring the ethical treatment of human participants in research, both federal guidelines and American Psychological Association ethical standards recognize that exceptions to it are reasonable under certain conditions. However, agreement about what constitutes a reasonable exception to informed consent is sometimes lacking. We presented the same protocols to samples of respondents drawn from 4 populations: Institutional review board (IRB) members, managers, employees, and university faculty who were not members of IRBs. Differences in perceptions of IRB members from the other samples with respect to the risks of the protocols without informed consent and on the feasibility of conducting the research in employment organizations are discussed in terms of implications for industrial and organizational psychology research.

Ethical issues in reporting and referring in research with low-income minority children

Ethical research with children requires a special concern for their well-being as individuals. Researchers are therefore expected to report problems children experience and to refer children for assistance. This article addresses difficultites that can arise as researchers attempt to meet this obligation in research with low-income ethnic minority children. Potential difficulties include both failure to report and overreporting suspected problems. The role of institutional review boards in researchers' reporting and referring behavior is also discussed.

"Little rapes," specious claims, and moral hubris: a reply to Korn, Huelsman, Reed, and Aiello

Because they failed to include our informed consent, guided imagery scenarios, and debriefing, the relevance of Koren, Huelsman, Reed, and Aiello's (1992) data remains unknown. The design of their Study 1 did not test the greater objectivity of role taking over involved participation. The design of their Study 2 did not demonstrate the effects of demand characteristics. The older "personal acquaintances" were not at higher risk of rape as they claimed. Properly gathered data from the University of Connecticut's laboratory demonstrated that participants regarded the guided imagining of rape to be personally and scientifically beneficial, educating them about the crime and the experience of the rape victim. Prior research had demonstrated that exposure to rape stimuli in combination with debriefing had an educational effect on the decreased endorsement of rape myths. Previously published ethical principles for balancing the rights of scientists, subjects, and society explicate our ethical stance. Informed consent precludes the occurrence of wrongful harms. This poorly designed and poorly reasoned "ethical" critique was unfounded; yet, it might produce a chilling effect on both the use of guided imagery and freedom of inquiry into politically sensitive topics.

Ethics -- perceived or reasoned from principles?: a rejoinder to Korn, Huelsman, and Reed

In response to Korn, Huelsman, and Reed's (1992) question, "Who defines those interests, and how serious must the setback be?" (p. 126), we argue that a wrongful (unjust) harm (a setback of interest) is not equivalent to a hurt (a temporary distressing mental state) and that the interests of importance are welfare interests (general means to our ulterior aims), not just a desire to avoid unpleasant mental states (hurts). To set back a welfare interest is to reverse its course or to impede, thwart, defeat, or doom it. It is the primary responsibility of the investigator to define both welfare interests and the risk of harm. An informed consent -- one with substantial understanding, in substantial absence of control by others, and given intentionally -- allows participants to autonomously authorize participation in research, including their toleration of acts of mental discomfort or distress during an experiment. Not only were our participants not wrongfully harmed, they benefited and were willing to volunteer for future research. No strong evidence has been advanced or linked to guided imagery in a way that would justify its restraint; to so claim evokes a standard of legal paternalism that fails to respect participants' competence and autonomy to choose to participate in research on rape using guided imagery.

Ethics that exclude: the role of ethics committees in lesbian and gay health research in South Africa

Prevailing state and institutional ideologies regarding race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality help to shape, and are influenced by, research priorities. Research ethics committees perform a gatekeeper role in this process. In this commentary, we describe efforts to obtain approval from the ethics committee of a large medical institution for research into the treatment of homosexual persons by health professionals in the South African military during the apartheid era. The committee questioned the "scientific validity" of the study, viewing it as having a "political" rather than a "scientific" purpose. They objected to the framing of the research topic within a human rights discourse and appeared to be concerned that the research might lead to action against health professionals who committed human rights abuses against lesbians and gay men during apartheid. The process illustrates the ways in which heterosexism, and concerns to protect the practice of health professionals from scrutiny, may influence the decisions of ethics committees. Ethics that exclude research on lesbian and gay health cannot be in the public interest. Ethics committees must be challenged to examine the ways in which institutionalized ideologies influence their decision making.

Refugee families' experience of research participation

Because refugees can experience crisis, bereavement, and traumatization, there has been a rapid increase of research carried out with refugees. This study investigated how refugee families respond to participation in research. A previous study explored how adults and children had communicated about the difficult question of repatriation after arriving in a new country. Did the in-depth interviews harm or benefit them? Are there any ethical risks in research on traumatized refugees? From an original sample of 74 Bosnian refugees (5-73 years), 30 family members from 9 families including 14 children aged 6 to 19, were re-interviewed. The refugees rated participation as positive. A few parents lacked information that could have enabled them to inform the children better before the interviews. The study shows that studies on traumatized/bereaved populations can have beneficial effects.

The legacy of being a research subject: follow-up studies of participants in therapy research

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

An increase in research activity in physical therapy has led to a parallel increase in the numbers of patients, colleagues and members of the general public being used as subjects. Safeguards on the ethical aspects of research have been monitored through ethics committees whose task is to protect the interests of subjects. However, proposals are subject to ethical scrutiny prior to commencement of the research, before subjects have given consent. It is unusual for further monitoring to take place once the study is underway or, indeed, after it has finished. Few researchers have reported carrying out follow-up studies of their subjects, therefore the ethical effect of research on subjects is not known. Our interest was in reports of subjects who had previously been research subjects.

METHOD

Follow-up studies were carried out on 156 subjects who had participated in research interviews. Phase 1 of the study included subjects with physical disabilities who lived in residential care (Rs subject group) (Barnitt and Canter, 1982). Phase 2 of the study comprised two research projects, (A) and (B), where subjects were physical therapists and occupational therapists (Ts subject group) (Barnitt, 1993; Barnitt and Partridge, 1997). Data were collected from the Rs subject group through visits, whereas the Ts subject group was sent a letter and short questionnaire three months after completion of an interview to elicit their views on the experience.

RESULTS

Eighty-seven subjects responded to the approach, a response rate of 56%. Despite having consented to taking part in research, a number of subjects later had concerns about their involvement. These concerns included worries about confidentiality; expectations that had not been met, anger, disappointment, and loss of face. Other subjects reported positive outcomes from the experience.

CONCLUSION

Researchers should consider including subject follow-up in their research design, particularly where sensitive research topics are being studied.

Assessing the ethical costs and benefits of trauma-focused research

Although scientists and members of Institutional Review Boards must balance the needs of investigators and participants in research, virtually no evidence is available to inform this decision making. This study examines the frequency and correlates of adverse reactions and adequacy of informed consent among 1174 women in an HMO who completed a trauma-focused health survey, and a subset of 252 women who later completed a trauma-focused research interview. Despite the sensitive content, the majority of women participants found participation in the interview and the questionnaire study to be a positive experience. Although a small number of women, particularly those with a history of maltreatment, underestimated the level of upset they would subsequently experience, the majority still did not regret participating, indicating that informed consent procedures were adequate, with a large proportion reporting immediate perceptions of personal gain. Finally, the cost-benefit ratio appears stable 48 hours post-interview, with some minor fluctuations. Overall, these results suggest that research on childhood victimization is well tolerated by women who participate. Though a small number of women may be disturbed by these investigations, in general, adverse reactions appear less common than previously anticipated.

Does the study of victimization revictimize the victims?

Although the number of questionnaire surveys examining the sequelae of prior sexual and physical victimization has increased over the last decade, little attention has been given to understanding the impact of such studies on participants. As part of a larger study of long-term effects of prior sexual and physical victimization, 500 randomly selected women in an HMO received a comprehensive questionnaire including multiple symptomatic distress measures and several items inquiring into previous history of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and neglect. They also completed a short rating scale asking about their reactions to completing the questionnaire. Despite the sensitive content, the women who participated generally found the experience to be a positive one. Only a small number of women were more upset than they had anticipated, but the vast majority felt they would have completed the survey even if they had known in advance how they would feel. The subset of women who did express distress was significantly different from the group that did not, with respect to other measures of symptomatic distress and trauma exposure. These data suggest that surveys that inquire into prior episodes of childhood victimization are generally well tolerated by women who participate, and that, although a small number may be disturbed by these investigations, in general, adverse reactions may be less common than previously anticipated.