Ethics

Ethical considerations are important at all stages of research. Any research that involves human subjects is guided by the ethical principles detailed in the Belmont Report (1974). The Belmont Report describes the three basic principles in research involving human subjects: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. The principle of respect for persons contains two important elements. First, that we must treat all persons as autonomous beings; and second, that we are required to protect persons with diminished autonomy. Beneficence requires that researchers weigh the cost-benefit to research participants. Beneficence mandates that researchers first do not harm study participants, and second, maximize benefits. Finally, the principle of justice in research requires that the benefits of research are fairly distributed, i.e., that groups of people that may benefit from the research are not denied it, and that research is not conducted on groups of people who may not benefit from it. For more information for these principles and their applications, see the full text of the Belmont Report.

Other ethical considerations apply to conducting all forms of experimental research. The design of an experimental study dictates that there is both a treatment group that receives the intervention, and a control group that does not. In many cases denying the control group the intervention is ethical, since no harm is done to them, and they are as well off as they would have been had they not participated in the study. However, for vulnerable populations, e.g., students with disabilities, this is not as straightforward. If researchers have good reason to believe that an intervention will benefit their study participants, denying this intervention to a control group can be considered unethical. When you have an intervention meant to benefit vulnerable populations, you may consider another form of research design—such as a quasi-experimental research design.

See full coverage of ethics in “What is Ethics in Research and Why Is It Important?”

For a human interest story that captures the history and impetus behind institutional review of science, read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2010), Crown Publishers.