Cultural, Ethical, and Legal Factors in Research

Cultural, Ethical, And Legal Factors in Research

In research, there are cultural, ethical, and legal factors that have to be addressed, and that are highly significant to the quality and appropriateness of the research and its conclusions. These include IRB approval and informed consent, along with whether the study participants were part of a population that was vulnerable. Three articles will be reviewed and addressed here, in order to see whether they were handled acceptably from cultural, ethical, and legal standpoints. Whether the populations that were used for the studies were treated correctly is highly significant when it comes to the safety of those populations and their use in future studies. When older research is used and compiled there are no serious worries about population safety, but when the researchers of a current study decide to conduct a survey or experiment, it is vital to be sure the participants are well-informed. Some populations are much more vulnerable than others, and should be more carefully protected in research.

One vulnerable group is the African-American population. This population was used in the studies considered here, in an effort to determine what part (if any) race played in the individuals who passed away from heart disease and related heart conditions. The population is not really protected in research any more than any other population, but they are all afforded the same considerations of IRB approval and informed consent in legitimate studies that measure race as a variable. Not all studies use IRB approval, but all studies that work with human beings as participants should have informed consent from those participants. By ensuring that this consent is received and that everyone who takes part in the study understands the form that he or she is signing, there is a lower risk of a vulnerable population being taken advantage of for research or any other purpose.

In Bibbins-Domingo, et al. (2009), the authors specifically state that they received IRB approval from any and all institutions that were involved in the study. The other two studies (Gottdiener, et al., 2002; Yancy, et al., 2001) did not mention anything about a review board of any kind, anywhere in the study. Naturally, this is a concern when working with human beings as research subjects. While Bibbins-Domingo, et al. (2009) also states that informed consent was obtained from all participants in the research study, Gottdiener, et al., (2002), and Yancy, et al. (2001) do not address the issue. Whether this means informed consent was not obtained, or just that it was not mentioned in the study, is not known. Gottdiener, et al. (2002) focused on the elderly population, while Yancy, et al. (2001) focused on the African-American population. Both of these populations can be considered to be vulnerable, and both have a higher risk of being taken advantage of in research.