Kenyatta University Ethics Review Commitee

What would researchers do when confronted with ethical dilemmas of any nature?

Before any scientific study is commissioned, the study protocol and it's attendant instruments of research must be presented to a reputable Institutional Review Board (IRB) for clearance. In Kenya, there are many IRBs including Kenyatta University Ethics Review Committee (KUERC), the UoN/KNH ERC, the Maseno University ERC, the Moi University ERC, the Strathmore University, the Aga Khan University and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) IRB among others which are preferred by researchers.

The review charges vary from institution to institution, and category to category. In Kenyatta University, researchers pay 80,000 shillings on the higher side and 2,000 Shillings on the lower side, to prompt the committee to sit on their application, before they highlight what needs tightening. These normally fall under certain thematic areas that include the scientific design and conduct of the study, recruitment of research participants, care & protection of research participants, protection of research participants confidentiality, informed consent process, and community considerations. Once a researcher articulates these critical issues well in the protocol, they are granted an approval, which dictates that they operate withing the guidelines of the ethics certificate. Any form of deviation calls for the researcher to report immediately for the ERC to consider their request. You ask why? The mantra is; You don't take chances when dealing with human subjects!

One of the litigious concerns in research is how researchers and their assistants can deal with unforeseen cases that put their humanity on the spotlight. For instance, if in the process of data collection, the research directs a researcher to interview a random cluster of households living in a poor neighborhood but in the process the sample lands him/her on a sickly mother who hasn't eaten for days but is charged with taking care of orphans and vulnerable children, what is the ethical thing to do?

Does the researcher redraw the sampling frame to bar her and the household from the study because she might not be able to coherently sustain a 45 minute interview; or does the researcher stick with her household but send the kids to the shop for some foodstuff and allow preparation of some basic meal first as s/he talks to their caregiver?

The former involves a methodological review that calls for the submission of the protocol deviation to the Ethics Review Committee. The latter option sticks to the methodological guideline but presents the researcher with an ethical dilemma since as the golden rule in research dictates that the researcher never takes advantage of study respondents - "Thou shall not use human subjects for personal gain."

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Happy 2017!