Research Ethics
Impact evaluation teams (or research teams) often work with, or have access to datasets that contain sensitive or personal identifiable information (PII) on individuals. They can either have direct access - for instance, through a field survey, or indirect access to this data - for instance, in the form of call data records (CDR). In both cases, research ethics are important to ensure that research teams act responsibly. Broadly, ethical research means that research teams must obtain necessary ethics approvals, protect rights of individuals, and obtain informed consent. Research ethics ensure that that steps taken to reach the outcomes of a study are just as important as the outcomes themselves, and improve the validity of results of a study.
Read First
- Research ethics make up the first pillar of the DIME Research Standards compiled by DIME Analytics.
- A human subject is a living individual about whom the research team obtains personal identifiable information (PII), either directly or indirectly.
- All members of the research team who handle personally identifiable information (PII) must have up-to-date human subjects research certifications.
Ethics Approvals
Protect Rights of Individuals
Informed Consent
Other Aspects of Ethical Research
Pre-Registration
De-Identification
Other Concerns in Research
Transparency
Reproducibility
Data Security
Publication
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Additional Resources
- Berk Özler (World Bank), Taking ethics seriously: Response #1
- Berk Özler (World Bank), Research with adolescents: issues surrounding consent
- David McKenzie (World Bank), A pre-analysis plan checklist
- DIME Analytics (World Bank), Research Ethics & Data Security
- Martin Ravallion (World Bank), Taking ethical validity seriously
- J-PAL, Ethics