This book provides readers with the practical knowledge needed to plan ethically responsible social and behavioural research. It includes: detailed instructions on development of an effective protocol; methods for handling issues of consent, privacy, confidentiality and deception; ways to assess risk and benefit to optimize research outcomes; and how to respect the needs of vulnerable research populations such as children and the urban poor, including those at risk from HIV infection.

Joan E. Sieber, a psychologist and Professor Emerita, California State University, East Bay, has specialized in empirical research on questions of scientific ethics, culturally sensitive methods of research and intervention, data sharing methodology, and scholarship on ethical problem solving. In 2001-2002, she was Acting Director of the National Science Foundation program Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science and Technology. She is the author of eight books and numerous other publications including software and encyclopedia entries on ethical problem solving in social and behavioral research.

PART ONE: RESEARCH ETHICS AND THE IRB
Research Ethics and IRBs
The Research Protocol
General Ethical Principles of Research on Humans
PART TWO: BASIC ETHICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH
Voluntary Informed Consent and Debriefing
Privacy
Strategies For Assuring Confidentiality
Deception Research
PART THREE: RISK/BENEFIT ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING
Recognizing Elements of Risk
Maximizing Benefit
PART FOUR: VULNERABLE POPULATIONS
Research on Children and Adolescents
Community-Based Research on Vulnerable Urban Populations and AIDS
PART FIVE: DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE HUMAN SUBJECTS PROTOCOL
Developing a Research Protocol