·    The nature and processes of ethical review

Ethical issues in sampling and recruitment

Consent: capacity and vulnerability

What does good participant information look like?

Ethical and secure data handling

Risk assessment and risk mitigation

Ethical research practice beyond ethical review

Course Description

This course aims to assist participants in preparing a social science project for ethical review. The primary focus is UK university-based ethical review, with some discussion of processes for NHS and prison research. However, much of what will be covered will be relevant to most systems of ethical review.

 

The course will explore the nature and processes of ethical review bodies, the consent process and vulnerability, risks and risk mitigation and broader frameworks of responsible research and innovation. Participants will be encouraged to take a broad and imaginative approach to risk assessment and research ethics, stepping beyond a “tick box” approach to ethical review and situating ethics as an ongoing part of the research process.

 

The course is primarily designed for researchers with an understanding of social science research who intend to submit a research project for ethical review and who wish to gain a wider understanding of ethical social science. The course leader is an experienced social researcher who will draw on her own research and experience of ethical review as a reviewer and applicant, as well as established practice within the social sciences.

 

Taught online, the sessions will include examination of research case studies, and will be interspersed with practical exercises and discussions to allow you to apply insights to your own research. The course leader will also be happy to address specific queries raised by course participants.