Social Research Ethics Research Articles

Malaria in the Republic of Ireland; A retrospective review of the clinical epidemiology of malaria between 2016 and 2020

ObjectivesMalaria is a parasitic infection that continues to present significant morbidity and mortality figures throughout the world. In the Republic of Ireland (Ireland), malaria is an imported infection linked most frequently to travel routes from West Africa. There is a paucity of data on the clinical epidemiology and hospital service utilization of malaria in non-endemic setting to inform physician practice. This study aims to fill that gap, providing a clinical context to the national picture of both adult and pediatric cases. MethodsA retrospective review of data from all public Irish hospitals was performed from 2016 to 2020, inclusive. Ethical approval was granted following review by the Social Research Ethics Committee (SREC) of University College Cork. Results and ConclusionsDuring the study period, there were 337 cases of malaria presenting to Irish hospitals, 15.1% (51/337) in the pediatric age category. Presentations occurred nationwide with a predictable seasonality. The majority (77.45%; 261/337) were Plasmodium falciparum and 6% (20/337) required critical care admission. Interestingly, females had a higher likelihood of admission to critical care (odds ratio 2.75, 95% confidence interval 1.1-6.86). The COVID-19 pandemic saw a 78% reduction in malaria presentations in 2020. A total of 1,166 bed days were utilized by cases of malaria.

Ethical challenges in contemporary social research (editorial)

The importance of ethics in social research has increased in recent years, something reflected, among other things, in the progressive codification and institutionalization of research ethics and the growing literature on this topic. We argue that despite increasing ethical regulation and ethical reflection in social research, ethical challenges also arise, i.e., difficult situations connected with selecting ethically appropriate behavior. The aim of this special issue is to invite social researchers to reflect upon and discuss ethical challenges in contemporary social research. The contributions in this issue concern vulnerability (one critically analyzing it, and another adapting the vulnerability concept to conducting research with people after a laryngectomy), the researcher and participant relationship, research ethics in multilingual world, and the ethicality of data representation where language plays a particular role in creating a form of activist research.

Interrogating the concept of vulnerability in social research ethics

This paper examines the concept of vulnerability in the context of social research ethics. An ambiguity is noted in use of this term: it may refer to an incapacity to provide informed consent to participate in a research project, or it may imply heightened susceptibility to the risk of harm. It is pointed out that vulnerability is a matter of degree, and that there are different sources and types of harm, which must be taken into account in any judgment about whether additional precautions are required to protect particular categories of research participants. Furthermore, such judgments must be sensitive to the particular context in which research is taking place. This is one of several considerations that raise questions about the desirability of the sort of pre-emptive ethical regulation that has become institutionalized in many countries over the past few decades, a form that is more appropriate to medical rather than to social research. However, this is not to deny that a concern with the vulnerability of research participants is necessary on the part of social researchers. Furthermore, it must be recognized that researchers themselves may be vulnerable to harm in the research process. Finally, some discussion is provided of the way in which a concern with vulnerability can conflict with other considerations that researchers need to take into account in doing their work. The key point is that vulnerability is a complex and controversial concept, and it requires careful handling in thinking about social research ethics.

Irish consumers attitudes and behaviors to transitioning to more sustainable dietary

Abstract Background The evidence on the environmental, socio-cultural and economic impacts of current diets highlights the need for countries to develop food based dietary guidelines incorporating sustainability. This study assessed consumers current beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours to transitioning to more sustainable dietary practices. Methods An online quantitative survey was developed. An all-Island sample in Ireland, representative of national age and gender distribution was recruited by Qualtrics XM market research company. Ethical approval for the study was granted by the Social Research Ethics Committee of UCC and reaffirmed by Queens University Belfast. Data were analysed using STATA SE Version 17.0. Results Affordability, accessibility, nutrition, and health were the most important characteristics of sustainable diets reported by participants that influence food purchases. Almost half of respondents were not interested in eating less animal-based food (45%) and more plant-based foods (51%). However, 22% reported to have started reducing red and processed meat consumption ‘some of the time'. The most popular sustainable dietary behaviours that people were already engaged with are: eating more home-cooked meals (59%), reducing food waste through prevention (41%), and eating less discretionary foods (55%). Conclusions Facilitating dietary change is a critical component of the transition towards more sustainable diets. A multi-pronged strategy is needed to transition to food environments that empower people to choose healthier and more sustainable options. This includes downstream actions at the individual level, including awareness and education campaigns, but more importantly upstream where strong leadership through public policies taking a whole of population approach is imperative. Key messages • Much work has to be done to reconnect human and ecological health, building awareness and knowledge of sustainable diets, and to make the more sustainable choice the easier, and acceptable choice. • Affordability, accessibility and nutrition and health are important characteristics of sustainable diets influencing food purchases. These need to be considered in the development of key messages.

Framework to assess the quality of mHealth apps: a mixed-method international case study protocol

IntroductionHealthcare professionals (HCPs) often recommend their patients to use a specific mHealth app as part of health promotion, disease prevention and patient self-management. There has been a significant growth in...

Ethics as a Moral Duty: Proposing an Integrated Ethics Framework for Migration Research

AbstractThis article interrogates the assumptions and moral values underlying social research ethics frameworks and practices applicable to migration studies. Based on a review of forced migration literature and on empirical observations I identify three tiers of research ethics that generally guide ethical conduct in this field: procedural, relational and reciprocal ethics. I suggest that these tiers are traditionally conceptualized as a hierarchy in which certain ethical demands are considered morally superior to others. Looking at each of the three tiers the article shows that procedural and relational ethics demands are often based on unclear moral values and problematic notions of migrants’ vulnerability. To address this shortcoming, I draw on deontological ethics and on Levinas’s notion of unconditional responsibility to argue that our duty as researchers is based on our particular relationship with our research subjects rather than on their status as migrants. Moving away from a hierarchical understanding of research ethics I then propose an integrated ethics framework that allows researchers to conceptualize and address the various ethical demands in an interconnected and holistic way. This framework presents an original contribution to research ethics discourses and practice in migration studies and other fields of social inquiry with a political and moral ambition such as human rights, social work and childhood studies.

Public interest in social research ethics: An analysis of the top 50 articles in Altmetric database

Social media influences public awareness, politics, and the economy. A new web-based metric called Altmetric has recently been developed for use in scientific fields, which provides a complementary measure of the impact of scientific articles. This study aims to identify and characterise the top 50 articles with high Altmetric attention scores (AASs) in social research ethics, which have received the most significant amount of attention from the general public and scholars.Using the Altmetric database, we searched for 438 AAS articles with content in social research ethics, which were published in 172 journals in social sciences using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. We determined the top 50 articles with the highest AASs using the Altmetric.com databases and then analysed them with some criteria of the journal, year, type of article, a field of research, main topic, and ethical research consideration.Among the 50 chosen articles, the journal that published the most articles on social research ethics that received the most attention on social media was the International Journal of Social Research Methodology (n=7). The most frequent keywords appearing in these articles are ethics (n=20), research ethics (n=14), social media (n=13), and privacy (n=7). Articles in the journal with higher impact factors (IFs) and Scimagor’s ranks were expected to have higher AASs. The research areas with articles with high AASs are philosophy and religious study (27), medical, pharmacology and health sciences, and studies in human society. Our study presents a detailed list and analysis of the top 50 articles with the highest AASs in social research ethics, which paint a significant picture of public attention in social research ethics. Indeed, this picture shows that despite having public interests in this topic, the level is less considerable compared to its vital position in social research in contemporary life

Ethical issues in WhatsApp research: notes on political communication studies in Brazil

This paper aims to discuss procedures, guidelines, and risks that research in the field of social sciences assumes when it is dedicated to the observation of human behavior in WhatsApp groups. In this way, we adopted different data collection and analysis strategies about academic production about the instant messenger. In the first section, we present a mapping of WhatsApp research and an analysis of knowledge areas that have produced studies on the application. Then, we approach how the application has been framed, in Brazilian literature, specially on political communication. Finally, we systematized the debate on ethics in social research on WhatsApp based on four central points, namely: a) data collection strategies; b) privacy and access to sensitive participant data; c) Informed Consent Forms (ICFs); d) position of researchers at the research locus.

Towards a culture of care for ethical review: connections and frictions in institutional and individual practices of social research ethics

ABSTRACT As researchers, institution-wide regulatory and organisational cultures guide our work. Over the past two decades, University Research Ethics Committees have been formally established across social science disciplines. However, the functioning of these committees has not been without critique. It is often argued that established ethical procedures informed by the medical sciences do not fit well with the more iterative epistemologies and unpredictable practices of doing social fieldwork. In this paper, I contribute to these discussions by considering what a further framework, a ‘culture of care’, might offer to university research ethics. A culture of care has evolved in contexts like the National Health Service (NHS) and animal research, and makes central claims around support, openness, collaboration and relationships. Bringing this to research ethics, I explore experiences of care through moments of friction in doing fieldwork with people living with Motor Neurone Disease. Identifying gaps between the institutional, personal and relational, I tentatively suggest some key features that a culture of care for research ethics might seek to develop. These discussions are also timely. Wider conversations emerging around reimagining research cultures in higher education provide an opportune moment to consider what a reimagined research ethics might look like and offer too.

THE ETHICAL ANALYSIS OF ADAPTATION OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL APPROACH IN THE FIELD OF IMPACT EVALUATION FOR HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS

Conducting and communicating research is a responsible intellectual job. A researcher would go analysing immense literature and would search for valid evidence. Prior to narrating an authentic statement. Correspondingly while selecting a method for study it is vital to opt for an approach that is ethically suitable in a defined context. While applied on a set of a populace, generally denoted to as a sample and/or universe. Therefore, social research would be a more laborious task. Hence, the social context is ever-changing in terms of time and space. Diverse methods of social research are being invented yearly. To compete with consistently changing social phenomena and needs of evidence. Operational research, evaluation, and screen monitoring are the most prominent approaches of modern social research. Hence, these naïve approaches of social research would undergo learning and adaptation. Community development projects and retrospective studies thereof are also being synthesized, with existing methods of social research. An identical practice is an adaptation of the Randomized Controlled Trial hereinafter (RCT) approach to conduct impact evaluations of humanitarian and development projects. Hitherto, RCT was being widely used by health researchers as a clinical research approach. Hence, an adaptation of this clinical research approach for field studies, particularly for the evaluation of humanitarian projects. Those are being implemented to provide survival support to vulnerable communities. It would require this approach to undergo some ethical adaptations. This research paper is developed to commence a wider literary discourse on requisite ethical adaptations for RCT to use in the evaluation of humanitarian projects. This research paper brings the findings from desk and field. To discuss key questions; where and how we can use RCT, and what ethical adaptations are necessary not to be forgone? This discourse is established on the usefulness of RCT, ethics of social research, ethics of evaluation, and humanitarian principles. The overarching purpose of this research paper is to facilitate the adaptation of RCT in the field of impact evaluation. While considering the ethical principles of the development sector and evaluation.
 
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Ethics in Social Research and Its Impact on Policy Implication, Planning and Development

This paper is an attempt to discuss how ethics associated with social research in connection with the collection of authentic and reliable data, use of appropriate data process and impartial data analysis for preparing an acceptable research report. Ethics is closely related to moral integrity, and values associated with appropriate methods and techniques applied for collection of reliable and authentic information that ensure the trust worthy research findings. This paper is based on secondary data collected through reviewing the relevant literatures. This paper examine to what extent the research findings contribute to the knowledge of planners and policy makers in formulating the appropriate policy and at the same time preparing effective as well as pragmatic planning based on the quality of research findings and finally thus may affect on development.

Participant Observation and the Ethics of Social Research

The major thrust of this study is to resolve the ethical controversies surrounding informed consent and identity of the researchers in the conduct of research through participant observation as well as ethical standards in social science research. It recommends that research ethical standards should include concealment of researcher's identity when doing otherwise would endanger his/her life in the research process. It also canvases the legitimization of “deception” when the well-being of the entire society is involved particularly in the study of deviants with a view to formulating public policies drawing the strength of the argument from lack of absoluteness and universality in the conceptualization of ethics and ethical standards that are basically structured on morality within and outside the social science professional community.

Exploring the Impact of Home-Schooling on the Psychological Wellbeing of Irish Families During the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Qualitative Study Protocol

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed severe restrictions on people’s behavior worldwide with school closures in many countries. These closures have shifted education from the classroom to the home. This change is unprecedented, and home-schooling has placed substantial stress on families across the world. As of 9 April 2020, 1.57 billion children were being educated by families that had little or no experience of protracted home-schooling. An essential but neglected issue related to COVID-19 is the psychological impact of home-schooling on family wellbeing, especially considering the other stressors they are experiencing including social isolation, fears of infection, frustration, boredom, inadequate information, and financial stress. This study explores the impact of home-schooling on family psychological wellbeing during COVID-19. These findings will help develop supports and interventions for this population. Methods: An exploratory qualitative study will be conducted using semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of families (at least one parent and one child). Participants will be recruited using social media outlets, contacts of academic members and snowball sampling. Interviews will take place using Microsoft Teams and via telephone and recorded for transcription purposes. These transcripts will be analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Ethical approval has been granted by the Social Research Ethics Subcommittee (SRESC) Maynooth University (2407411). The Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has funded the research with the COVID-19 rapid response grant. The dissemination of findings will be through open access journal publications, distribution of lay summaries, press release and policy papers. Discussion: The research findings will discuss the impact that home-schooling has had on family psychological wellbeing. It will examine how parents are managing their children’s education and learning while handling the other stresses associated with COVID-19. A deeper understanding of the impact of school closures and home-schooling on family processes is essential if the psychological wellbeing of families is to be protected and supported during challenging times such as health-related disasters.

Book Review: Ethics in Social Research: Becoming Culturally Responsive

Book Review: Ethics in Social Research: Becoming Culturally Responsive

Scale of values in active nursing professionals of Dominican Republic

Given the curricular revision processes that takes place in the country, within the framework of the reforms in the health services, a research was carried out with the objective of analyzing the scale of values of the nursing professionals in the Dominican Republic, during the period May 2017-July 2018. The study is transversal and quantitative. The Valuation Reaction Test was applied to 203 Dominican professional nurses who work in public and private health centers in seven cities, selected for availability and respecting the ethics of social research. The data was analyzed with Excel and SPSS. The scale of values was organized according to the frequency of maximum scores obtained by the subjects in the categories and showed this order: 1) individual, 2) affective, 3) intellectual, 4) moral, 5) social, 6) aesthetic and 7) religious. While they answered the test, the subjects showed different types of verbal and psychic reactions that allowed them to understand the statistical results. The first three categories show that these professionals have an interest in overcoming and animating to provide selfless and friendly service. The last three categories reveal rejection towards values related to politics, guilds, fine arts and religious dogmas contrary to accepted faith. It is concluded that vocational schools must work to maintain balance and reinforce values with a weak presence, through the inclusion of ethical principles in the curriculum with projection towards their graduates.  

Assessing Student‐Led Learning in an Anatomy Practical: Students' Perception

The teaching of anatomy has for long been delivered through lectures and supplemented with practical sessions. Different institutions devise varies teaching methods to deliver the practical aspect of anatomy. Some of these methods are faculty‐led while others are more student‐led [1]. In this study we aimed to gather medical students' opinion on the various learning resources used to study anatomy, and link them to a number of learning outcomes. In addition, the study also aimed to assess the benefits of student‐led learning (SLL) and faculty‐led learning (SLL). First year medical students were invited to participate in this study. Information about the study was provided to the students and informed consent was obtained. In one practical session, student were divided into groups and were provided with a list of structures that they need to identify on prosections using the available resources. This was followed by a faculty led demonstration to identify the same list of structures. Students were then asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of the practical session. Anonymized data was collected and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS). This study was approved by the Social Research Ethics Committee at University College Cork.From the 86 registered students, 65 took part in this study yielding a 75% response rate. Cadaveric prosections (mean = 1.40, SD = 0.965) were deemed as the most preferred for learning anatomy with plastic models (mean = 4.51, SD = 1.252) as the least favored. Prosections (mean = 4.42) were again deemed as the most superior resource in achieving the majority of the devised set of learning outcomes, while plastinated specimens (mean = 2.10) were the least helpful resource. Prosections were highly ranked by the students as they provide hands‐on experience on a realistic specimen, appreciation of spatial relationships and 3D visualization of structures. A larger number of students (n = 53, 81.53%) agreed that the SLL sessions offered more “independent learning” and the sessions provided a comfortable environment. A majority (n = 53, 81.53%) indicated that the FLL sessions gave more “assistance in learning” with less accountability. The students felt less accountable during the FLL tutorials possibly because they didn't feel pressured in knowing and explaining the material because the information was presented to them by experts. With the clear benefits of SLL, further research is required to investigate the best way to integrate similar sessions in an anatomy practical.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Implementing Ethical Principles in Social Research: Challenges, Possibilities and Limitations

Abstract The article is based on descriptive theoretical research and focused on ethical principles in social research. It involves considerations on ethical principles and dimensions in social research as well as challenges and limitations for social researchers / scientists when they implement the social research studies. The following research questions are raised in the article: What are the challenges for social researchers / scientists and how to solve them in order to maintain the ethics of research? What commitments include ethical dimensions of social research? What ethical principles are relevant to scientific research, regardless of it‘s specific discipline? The purpose of the research is to consider the possibilities of implementation of ethical principles, limitations, obstacles, and challenges in social research. The author concludes that ethical considerations in social research are critical as they help to determine the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. The essential ethical considerations in social research ethics remains professional competence, integrity, processional and scientific responsibility, respect for research participants’ rights, dignity and diversity, and social responsibility of social researchers / scientists. In the conclusions also is accentuated that social researchers / scientists must be sensitive to cultural, individual, and role differences in serving, teaching, and studying groups of people with distinctive characteristics. In all of their social research-related or based activities they should acknowledge the rights of others to hold values, attitudes, and opinions that differ from their own. Thus social researchers / scientists should be aware of their professional and scientific responsibility to the social sciences communities and societies in which they live and work. They are responsible to apply and make public their knowledge in order to contribute to the public good.

Vulnerabilidad y ética de la investigación social: perspectivas actuales

<p>El propósito de este artículo es abordar la problemática de la inclusión de personas y grupos vulnerables en las investigaciones sociales. En los últimos años, se ha incrementado la bibliografía dedicada a analizar el concepto de vulnerabilidad en el contexto de la investigación biomédica. No obstante, en el campo específico de la investigación en ciencias sociales sigue siendo un tema escasamente abordado, tanto en la bibliografía especializada como en las guías éticas, a pesar de que muchas investigaciones sociales involucran a personas y grupos sumamente vulnerables.<br />En este artículo se reconstruirá, en primer lugar, cómo ha sido abordado el concepto de vulnerabilidad en los documentos más destacados de bioética y ética de la investigación. Luego, serán presentadas las perspectivas más significativas sobre la vulnerabilidad en ética de la investigación biomédica y social, y se señalarán los alcances y limitaciones de estas. Por último se presentará un concepto de vulnerabilidad que puede ser más adecuado para el análisis ético de las investigaciones sociales que los conceptos actuales.</p>

An Alternative Ethics? Justice and Care as Guiding Principles for Qualitative Research

The dominant conception of social research ethics is centred on deontological and consequentialist principles. In place of this, some qualitative researchers have proposed a very different approach. This appeals to a range of commitments that transform the goal of research as well as framing how it is pursued. This new ethics demands a participatory form of inquiry, one in which the relationship between researchers and researched is equalized. In this paper we examine this alternative approach, focusing in particular on two of the principles that are central to it: justice and care. We argue that there are some significant defects and dangers associated with this new conception of research ethics.

Book review: Kevin Love (ed.), Ethics in Social Research (Studies in Qualitative Methodology, Volume 12)

Book review: Kevin Love (ed.), <i>Ethics in Social Research (Studies in Qualitative Methodology, Volume 12)</i>