A Social Sciences perspective on teaching research ethics to UG students Peter A. Bath Department of Information Studies (with acknowledgements to Professors Peter Willett and Val Gillet and Mr. Richard Hudson, RIS)

2 Overview Providing the context Clear definitions Explaining the issues Attention to detail Examples and case studies Examples of slides to illustrate Focus on final year research projects

Providing the context Background to national developments UG students may not be aware of Alder Hey etc. Other examples of unethical research, e.g., MMR vaccine scare, plagiarism Need to relate this to UoS and research ethics policy 3

Clear definitions Concepts may be unfamiliar – avoiding assumptions of prior knowledge Engage students in discussing issues and questioning Include legal issues, e.g., DPA (1998) 4

Explaining pertinent issues Research ethics policy Relevance to, and impact on, BSc research projects Process for handling ethics review Definitions of risk, and examples of these 5

Attention to detail Detailed discussion of potential problems areas: Safety / well-being Informed consent Anonymity / confidentiality Linking data sets Clear pointers to the relevant resources, use MOLE for module materials 6

Case studies and examples Small group work looking at real examples Include range of examples More or less relevant to illustrate issues: Patient groups Recording media Students as participants Sensitive topics, obesity, fertility 7

Conclusions Teaching research ethics to Undergraduate students: Discussing new concepts / issues Engaging students with the idea that research ethics is a process Establishing the relevance to their work Providing clear examples and definitions 8