HEALTH SCIENCES RESEARCH AND ITS ETHICAL PRACTICE

Running head: HEALTH SCIENCES RESEARCH
Health Sciences Research
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1HEALTH SCIENCES RESEARCH
Topic: Informed consent is not needed if the research can only benefit an individual.
Research is based on five ethical principles which include minimizing the risk of the
participants from harm, obtaining the participant’s informed consent, protecting the
anonymity and confidentiality of the participants, not engaging in deceptive practices and
providing the participants the right to withdraw (Miller & Boulton, 2007). Among them,
conducting a research which includes participants who have been informed of the research
process and outcomes and the complete implication of their participation is the idea about
informed consent. This essay argues that informed consent is mandatory even if the research
only benefits an individual.
Informed consent is one of the founding principle that constitutes ethical research
practices and it is obtained before a participant enters into a research. At the minimum, the
participants must be informed about what the research entails and what they are consenting
to. The first stage of informed consent includes informing the participants and giving them
time to reflect on the provided information and respond to the researcher. There is no
pressure for responding immediately (Nusbaum, Douglas, Damus, Paasche-Orlow & Estrella-
Luna, 2017). The second part includes the explanation of the terms of the research and often
they are provided in documents. The participants can give consent in writing or by telephonic
conversation. Sometimes, in online surveys, taking part in the surveys implies consent and
that is acceptable. The fundamental reason that informed consent is necessary because people
have right to information. Informed consent gives them the right to understand and decide for
themselves whether they want to be included in a research process.
According to Miller and Boulton (2007), informed consent defines the appropriate
relationship between researchers and the participants. The idea and conditions of informed
consent has changed over time and is becoming more complex in nature. The reason behind
this is the increase in awareness of human rights and ethical considerations in research. Data
collection in research may include many personal and cultural data as well as sensitive
information that people might not be comfortable sharing with the whole world. While many
might think that not taking informed consent is acceptable in cases when research is helping
only one individual, it is unethical as there is no guarantee that the participant is aware of the
use that their shared information is being put to (Dranseika, Piasecki & Waligora, 2017).
Without their knowledge, the shared information might become the reason for unnecessary
complication as disclosing sensitive information, however minimal is unethical.