Clarifying the concept of the "Social" in risk assessments for human subjects research. Academic Article

abstract

• International guidelines for the conduct of research with human participants, such as those put forth by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS, 2002), recommend that research review committees account for social risk and benefits to society in their review of proposed research. What do the concepts of the "social" and "society" mean in the context of the review of human participants research? Here we analyze concepts of social and society to define the terms: social harm, social risk, social benefit, and benefits to society. We argue that use of these terms invite more questions than answers and beg for difficult empirical research to determine the nature, likelihood, and magnitude of this category of risk and benefit. Until more research is done and these questions are answered, we advise reviewers to adopt an attitude of provisionalism and caution in their review of specifically "social" risks and benefits and "benefits to society."

authors

• Gray, Phillip

published proceedings

• Account Res

altmetric score

• 5.08

author list (cited authors)

• Jordan, S. R., & Gray, P. W.

citation count

• 12

complete list of authors

• Jordan, Sara R||Gray, Phillip W

publication date

• January 2018

publisher

• Taylor & Francis  Publisher

keywords

• Concept Formation
• Ethics Committees, Research
• Human Experimentation
• Humans
• International Cooperation
• Research Benefits
• Research Design
• Research Risks
• Research Subjects
• Risk Assessment
• Social
• Social Behavior
• Social Science Research
• Society
• Terminology As Topic

PubMed Central ID

• 29140730

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1080/08989621.2017.1403323

start page

• 1

end page

• 20

volume

• 25

issue

• 1

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2017.1403323