Emerging Ethical Issues in Social Science and Cross- Cultural Research
Date: 5th - 6th May 2005
Venue: University of Sussex
Developments in biomedical ethics nationally and globally are transforming research practices and data storage of medical research. Social scientists working on medical issues and on research in collaboration with biomedical researchers usually need to gain approval from the appropriate medical research ethics committee. This needs to be demonstrated prior to publication. This engagement in which social scientists have to adapt to codes and practices of biomedical ethics raises important ethical dilemmas and questions, and foreshadow wider debates concerning in social sciences, and in particular the legal and moral arguments for social scientists to adopt ethical codes derived from biomedicine. Both general and practical questions arise and these questions are increasingly important in the context of globalisation and pandemics diseases that transcend national borders? Can there be one ethical code, or many depending on discipline? What are the implications for social science research practices of adapting to (adopting) biomedical ethics codes. Are these different for different social sciences? Are the issues raised in biomedical engagement any different from those raised in other social research? Should there be a single code and mode of acceptable practice globally, or differences depending on country, or indeed depending on other social differences such as poverty, education and literacy, religion. How have these dilemmas been resolved in different places. The approach is to unite those working on these issues in the UK and overseas, in discussion with (a) senior members of UK and overseas biomedical research ethics committees, and (b) social scientists who have been engaged in developing new approaches to the ethics of biomedical research in developing countries.
Speakers
| Charles Bosk | University of Pennsylvania |
| Priscilla Alderson | SSRU University of London |
| Iain Lang | Peninsula Medical School/ University of Cambridge |
| Jan Pahl | University of Kent |
| Nicoli Natrass | University of CapeTown |
| Sam McConkey | MRC Laboratories, the Gambia/Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland |
| Maya Unnithan | University of Sussex |
| Leslie Swartz | University of Stellenbosch |
| Melissa Leach | Institute of Development Studies |
Course Outline (Programme)
Thursday 5th May
| 12:30 - 2:00pm | Lunch in Gallery 2, Bramber House |
| 2:00 - 4:00pm | The Biomedical/Social Science Interface: Problems with Bioethics? If we must have prospective research review, can we make it meaningful? A complaint, a remedy, and a research agenda Charles Bosk (University of Pennsylvania) The biomedical-social science interface: problems with bioethics and contributions from social science Priscilla Alderson (SSRU University of London) |
| 5:00 - 7:00pm | Formal Governance and Social Science Research Ethical governance as resource and as obstacle: findings from a consultation with qualitative researchers Iain Lang (Peninsula Medical School/ University of Cambridge) Research governance in social science and social care research Jan Pahl (University of Kent) |
Friday 6th May
| 9:00 - 11:00am | International and Cross-Cultural Research I : Ethical Dilemmas 'Us doctors REALLY help people - you social scientists just study them': Tensions over the value and purpose of AIDS-related research in South Africa Nicoli Natrass (University of CapeTown) Biomedical research in and cross-cultural sensitivities in the Gambia Sam McConkey (MRC Laboratories, the Gambia/Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) |
| 11:30 - 1:30pm | International and Cross-Cultural Research II : Cultural Sensitivities Anthropology and Bioethics: linking global values with local practices Maya Unnithan (University of Sussex) Participation, expertise and science Leslie Swartz (University of Stellenbosch) Fluid anxieties: technoscience and the economy of blood in The Gambia Melissa Leach (Institute of Development Studies) (Co-authors: Melissa Leach, James Fairhead, Mary Small, Jackie Cassell) |
| 1:30 - 2:00pm | Lunch |
| 2:00 - 4:00pm | Agenda-setting/ future issues roundtable |
Location
The seminar will be held at:
Gallery 1
3rd Floor
Bramber House
Arts Road
University of Sussex
Duration
Thursday 12:30pm – 7:00pm
Friday 09:00am – 4:00pm
Contact
Email: j.holmwood@sussex.ac.uk