Providing payment for participation in research studies is an accepted practice, but until recently little guidance existed on the ethical aspects when deciding research payments. Gelinas et al recently presented a framework that researchers and IRBs can use when deciding ethical payments. Yet one major gap remains beyond the framework: data on the types and amounts of incentives provided historically in research studies. Read more
by Elisa A. Hurley, PhD, Education Director
The portrayal of research in popular media can offer considerable insight. To reflect on some of the lessons offered, PRIM&R staff have spent the summer reading and watching books, movies, and television shows that have generated conversation and debate around issues related to research ethics. Over the next several weeks, they will share their reflections here, so join us as [...] Read more
by Emily A. Largent and Alan Wertheimer, PhD
How do institutional review board (IRB) members and human research protections professionals think about the relationship between payment, coercion, and undue influence?
This is a topic of obvious interest to the research community: Researchers routinely offer payment to prospective research participants as an incentive to enroll or as compensation for their participation in research. IRBs are, in turn, asked to review these payments for their ethical implications. Yet, there is little systematic data about attitudes toward payment in general, and specifically, when IRB members consider payment coercion or undue influence.
To address these questions, in 2010, we surveyed randomly selected PRIM&R [...] Read more
