Читать книгу An Introduction to Text Mining - Gabe Ignatow - Страница 38

One cornerstone of modern research ethics is the Belmont Report, which was commissioned by the U.S. government in response to ethical failures in medical research and published in 1979. Written by a panel of experts, the Belmont Report has three principles that should underlie the ethical conduct of research involving human subjects: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. These principles were later operationalized into the rules and procedures of the Common Rule, which governs research at U.S. universities (www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/common-rule). In the Belmont Report, respect for persons consists of two principles: that individuals should be treated as autonomous and that individuals with diminished autonomy are entitled to additional protections. This is interpreted to mean that researchers should, if possible, receive informed consent from participants (informed consent is discussed later in the chapter). Beneficence can be understood to mean having the interests of research participants in mind. This principle requires that researchers minimize risks to participants and maximize benefits to participants and society. The principle of justice addresses the distribution of the costs and benefits of research so that one group in society does not bear the costs of research while another group benefits. Issues of justice tend to relate to questions about the selection of participants.

Today, the Belmont Report continues as an essential reference for IRBs that review research proposals involving human subjects, in order to ensure that the research meets the ethical foundations of the regulations (IRBs are discussed later in this chapter). It also serves as a reference for ethical guidelines developed by professional associations, including associations whose members work with Internet data.