Research Practice Mahdad Davari Muneeb Khan Nikos Nikoleris Andreas Sembrant

What would you do in the following situation? Adam, collects data from a specific group of adult informants. He promises that no one outside his research group will have access to the data. His findings are questioned by two other researchers who request access to his source data. Adam refuses to hand them over, referring to his promise to his informants. Adam's colleagues destroy the source data

Is the action taken by Adam’s colleagues ethically acceptable? Ethically correct to protect the informant: There might be sensitive data about the informants There is a trust issue and might affect future experiments

Is the action taken by Adam’s colleagues ethically acceptable? Ethically incorrect as a research practice: Verification: o Experiment has to been done from scratch to verify its results Secondary use: o Experiment has to been done from scratch to extend its findings Research misconduct: o Allegations against cannot be investigated

Is it compatible with existing legislation? According to the Swedish Law data is official documents. Publicly available to anyone. Destroying is illegal. But special regulations for personal data.

Has Adam promised more than he can deliver? He should have promised less: o To allow other researchers access his data o Protect his research from allegations of misconduct What he promised is OK: o He collected sensitive data, no one would have participated in his survey without the non disclosure agreement. o More accurate data achieved when anonymity is ensured.