'Walking Along Beside the Researcher': How Canadian REBs/IRBs ar eResponding to the Needs of Community-Based Participatory Research
'Walking Along Beside the Researcher': How Canadian REBs/IRBs ar eResponding to the Needs of Community-Based Participatory Research
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Date
2012
Authors
Guta, Adrian
Nixon, Stephanie
Gahagan, Jacquie
Fielden, Sarah
Advisor
Citation
Guta, Adrian and Nixon, Stephanie and Gahagan, Jacquie and Fielden, Sarah (2012) 'Walking Along Beside the Researcher': How Canadian REBs/IRBs ar eResponding to the Needs of Community-Based Participatory Research. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics: An International Journal, 7 (1). pp. 15-25.
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Abstract
research ethics boards and institutional review boards (REBs/IRBs) have been criticized for relying on conceptions of research that privilege biomedical, clinical, and experimental designs, and for penalizing research that deviates from this model. Studies that use a community-based participatory research (CBPR) design have been identified as particularly challenging to navigate through existing ethics review frameworks. However, the voices of REB/IRB members and staff have been largely absent in this debate. The objective of this article is to explore the perspectives of members of Canadian university-based REBs/IRBs regarding their capacity to review CBPR protocols. We present findings from interviews with 24 Canadian REB/IRB members, staff, and other key informants. Participants were asked to describe and contrast their experiences reviewing studies using CBPR and mainstream approaches. Contrary to the perception that REBs/IRBs are inflexible and unresponsive, participants described their attempts to dialogue and negotiate with researchers and to provide guidance. Overall, these Canadian REBs/IRBs demonstrated a more complex understanding of CBPR than is typically characterized in the literature. Finally, we situate our findings within literature on relational ethics and explore the possibility of researchers and REBs/IRBs working collaboratively to find solutions to unique ethical tensions in CBPR