Research is a step into the unknown. Therefore, when research that involves human subjects (people) is conducted, there are always potential ethical risks of different sorts. These risks could be physical, psychological, social, financial, academic, among others. Researchers have an ethical obligation to ensure that human subjects involved (both participants and researchers) are not inadvertently or potentially hurt by their studies. They also must design research in a way that the privacy, autonomy, voluntary participation, and human dignity of involved people are fully protected as well as the confidentiality of the information they decide to share with researchers.
To comply with the ethically responsive conduct of research, in Canada, as in many other parts of the world, any serious research project involving human subjects requires institutional ethics approval. This means that before the project starts, the principal investigator is responsible for having their project reviewed in terms of its ethical standards. Only when the results of the ethical review indicate that the potential ethical risks are under control, the research can start.
In Ontario, colleges and technological institutes have a Research Ethics Board (REB). REBs include volunteer independent individuals of different professional and disciplinary backgrounds, from within and outside the organization, who have been trained in how to properly examine a study proposal from an ethical point of view.
The 糖心国产传媒 REB has the mandate to review research and projects that gather data from humans to ensure that they are conducted in an ethical manner.
In general, the board members meet around 7-8 times between September and June to review and discuss received research applications. Final decisions are achieved after a democratic process of discussion and deliberation in which all committee members express and discuss their diverse points of view.
At 糖心国产传媒鈥檚 REB we are always open to recruiting new qualified members to serve on the board and to provide guidelines to train them. If you have previous experience conducting research and/or are familiarized with the research process and you want to share your expertise with the committee, reach out please! Send an email to the REB Acting Chair (Erin.Ratelle@saultcollege.ca).
More specific information about the REB can be retrieved from this presentation.