Abstract
Despite the use of research incentives in the recruitment and retention of participants for research studies, there remains debate over the acceptable use of participant incentives in research. There appears to be a paucity of guidelines that can assist researchers in demonstrating practically how incentives may be ethically used in research. This single site pilot study explored the experiences of key stakeholders involved in rehabilitation research to highlight what may constitute acceptable practices for incentives. A qualitative inquiry with use of semi-structured interviews with four key informants from a single site was undertaken. Data was audio-recorded and analysed thematically using deductive reasoning. The findings reflect a description of what incentives constitute; the issues around undue inducement and use of incentives in practice. Participants' offered their perceptions on perceived acceptable versus unacceptable practices in the use incentives in research. Participants shared their concern over research incentives being used to sway participation in research rather than reimburse participants for their expenses or offering a token of appreciation. There is a need for education of practitioners and researchers to develop skill to aid researchers to evaluate the ethical dilemmas related to the use of incentives in research.
Highlights
Despite the use of research incentives in the recruitment and retention of participants for research studies, there remains debate over the acceptable use of participant incentives in research
Some examples cited from the literature that include breaches of ethical code include the following; A psychology professor providing students with extra credit when agreeing to participate in a research study[8], parents may be enticed to provide consent for their child’s participation based on the offer of payment which can unwittingly distort their decision making against the risk factors of their child’s participation[12], and a prisoner whose care and treatment may be compromised for refusal of participation in a study[11]
Given that there remains ambiguity in what constitutes acceptable versus unacceptable practice, researchers are encouraged to consider the motives behind offering an incentive to participants
Summary
Despite the use of research incentives in the recruitment and retention of participants for research studies, there remains debate over the acceptable use of participant incentives in research. Participants’ offered their perceptions on perceived acceptable versus unacceptable practices in the use incentives in research Participants shared their concern over research incentives being used to sway participation in research rather than reimburse participants for their expenses or offering a token of appreciation. These well documented studies included investigations such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Woolbrook study[1,2,3] These studies highlighted significant ethical breaches in autonomy of research participants, which promulgated the drafting and adoption of policies to establish and regulate human subject’s protection. Some of these policies include the Nuremberg Code[4], the Belmont Report[5,6] and African Health Sciences. Some examples cited from the literature that include breaches of ethical code include the following; A psychology professor providing students with extra credit when agreeing to participate in a research study[8], parents may be enticed to provide consent for their child’s participation based on the offer of payment which can unwittingly distort their decision making against the risk factors of their child’s participation[12], and a prisoner whose care and treatment may be compromised for refusal of participation in a study[11]
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