The ethics of research during the pandemic
Should we continue with the WoWe@NZEDS 2020 project?
The short answer is yes.
Read on for the longer answer:
To continue this, or any research project, requires careful consideration of pros and cons of doing so. To stop, the potential downsides of continuing clearly have to outweigh the potential benefits of going ahead as planned.
Arguments against continuing the project include:
Information about the research may distract researchers and participants from more important, urgent matters. That is, there is only so much “mental bandwidth” available to staff.
The time taken by participants for the research may be better spent doing more urgent matters. That is there is finite time, which is better spent doing more important things
The project is now less relevant due to the extraordinary times and settings we find ourselves in. That is, the research findings will be irrelevant once this is over.
Arguments for continuing are:
While there is a lot of new and potentially stressful information for staff given the COVID situation, local site investigators and research assistants are on the ground, and can approach potential participants with consideration of all the factors going on in their department and with their individual colleagues.
The actual time participants take for the survey is around 10-15 minutes. That is, this is actually a small time commitment.
The pandemic situation has provided an opportunity to even more closely examine our departmental and wider systems, culture and personal resilience factors. While there are significant changes at this time, the foundations for workplace wellbeing have not changed. Rather, the strengths and shortcomings of these factors in our departments are being examined and highlighted.
Our group (Dr Peter Jones, Dr Vanessa Selak, and myself) have considered and discussed these issues. We believe the ethical arguments favour continuing the project. However, this is an evolving situation. We will keep considering these matters. We are keen to hear any thoughts you may have.
Thank you.
Mike