Research themes and projects at the Centre for Womens Health, Gender and Society
Project title
Hamstrung by ethics creep? Investigating human research ethics in practice
Major research theme
- Other
Investigators
- Dr Marilys Guillemin, Centre for the Study of Health and Society, The University of Melbourne
- Dr Lynn Gillam, Centre for the Study of Health and Society, The University of Melbourne
- Prof Doreen Rosenthal, CWHGS, School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne
Funding
- ARC discovery grant, 2006-2008, $444,427
Summary
Is good research really being hamstrung by the process of ethics review, as claimed recently in the national press; or is it just a mutual mis-communication between ethics committee members and researchers? This qualitative research aims to examine what principles ethics committee members and health researchers use in making decisions about ethical research practice. These ethical principles will be compared to those of the National Statement on the Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans. This project will provide a much-needed evidence base for the ongoing review of the research ethics process, and valuable information for the training of ethics committee members and researchers.
This project will benefit national ethics review processes and ethical research practice. It will provide the community, funding bodies, researchers, participants and ethics committee members with confidence in both the ethics review process and day-to-day practice of health research. As health research becomes increasingly complex, it is vital that the conceptual bases used in ethical deliberations and their relationship to research practice are made explicit. By making known the ways that ethics committee members and health researchers make decisions about research ethics and how this influences the conduct of their practice, we can be assured that health research in the future is being conducted in the most effective and ethical way.