The Medicine Hat College Research Ethics Board (REB) has the responsibility to ensure that the research undertaken at the College is conducted with the highest ethical standards. The three core ethical principles which inform and guide all decision-making are respect for persons, concern for welfare, and justice.
The REB reviews all proposed or ongoing research which is subject to ethics review in order to protect human research participants. The REB’s decision-making is guided by the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2). The Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics was created by Canada’s three federal research agencies—the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The TCPS 2 is the result of this collaboration.
Common Questions
From Policy 9.7:
Policy 9.7 specifies that of the following all require initial ethics screening (which means you have to consult with the REB to see if a full review is required):
The following do not require full ethical review:
The REB works on a ongoing basis. You should expect a decision within 4 to 6 weeks. It is important that you submit your ethics application well ahead of any deadlines you might otherwise have.
No. Absolutely nothing involving the proposed human participants (including recruitment) can take place before ethics approval is granted. You may do other preparatory work, but you may not work with any participants in any fashion.
We cannot. It would be a conflict of interest for members of the REB to assist in the writing of the application and sit in evaluation of that application. However, assistance with research design can be had from Teaching and Learning and, in the near future, the Centre for Innovation and Applied Research.
You can find Policy 9.7 Ethical Conduct Involving Human Participants on Medicine Hat College Policies and Procedures found on SOURCE.
Further Resources