Perception, understanding and practice of ethics during research on humans.

Abstract

Background: Scandals have occurred over time involving conduct of research in different parts of the world. This study was aimed at exploring researchers’ perception, understanding, appreciation and practice of research ethics during research on human subjects. Methods: A qualitative approach using the exploratory and descriptive designs was used. Participants in the study academic staff and graduate students in the Faculties of Medicine and Social Sciences. Results: Of the 37 respondents 68% were faculty while 32% were graduate students in the fields of social sciences, clinical and basic sciences. Research experience ranged from one to thirty four years. 27% had had formal training in research ethics; the remaining 73% had a vague idea about research ethics. All respondents appreciated the importance of confidentiality although data management procedures were lacking in many. A total of 22% of the participants appreciated the need for research subjects to understand the informed consent, 38% think it is not always the case and in many cases their subjects do not have to understand, while the remaining 40% believe that research subjects’ understanding of the informed consent process may not be necessary. Sixty five percent of participants have no knowledge and usually give no feed back to research communities unless the funding organization request so. Conclusion: Most researchers appreciate the importance of confidentiality, but have limited understanding of the process of informed consent, information handling and the importance of feedback.