U.S. Health Researchers Review Their Ethics Review Boards: A Qualitative Study

Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 39-58, 2006

43 Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2006

See all articles by Scott Burris

Scott Burris

Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law

Kathryn Moss

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research

Abstract

Virtually all research involving human subjects in the US must be reviewed by an institutional review board, a form of research ethics review board. This article reports the results of qualitative research on how investigators regard this regulatory regime. Interviews were conducted with forty investigators conducting health-related research. Most respondents shared the regulations' goals, but doubted that the regulations, as implemented, promoted these goals efficiently, effectively and fairly. The interviews suggest that efforts to raise researchers' ethical consciousness have been, over time, quite successful, but that implementation of the regulations remains problematic. Research aimed at better defining the problem to be solved by the regulatory system, and at assessing the effectiveness of the regulatory tools for solving properly defined problems, could guide a more productive debate about human subject protection.

Keywords: Research Ethics, Regulation, Implementation, Human Subjects

Suggested Citation

Burris, Scott C. and Moss, Kathryn, U.S. Health Researchers Review Their Ethics Review Boards: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 39-58, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=931954

Scott C. Burris (Contact Author)

Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law ( email )

1719 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
United States
215-204-6576 (Phone)
215-204-1185 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.phlr.org

Kathryn Moss

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research ( email )

725 Airport Road, CB# 7590
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590
United States
919-966-0601 (Phone)
919-966-3811 (Fax)

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