Sex, Drugs, Rock and Role and Other Ethical Dilemmas in Community Based Research

Sigma Xi Lecture
General Motors
December 04, 2003

Abstract: Advances in research technology from field based ethnographies to biomedical miracles have greatly expanded both the ethical concerns and the ethical dilemmas that are constantly produced by human research. Vulnerable communities are increasingly demanding that they either participate in research or regulate research directed at them, with very powerful ethical implications for that control. Meanwhile, the federal government is simultaneously expanding and narrowing its definitions of ethical research practices in confusing ways. The result is a broad ethical “Gray Zone” in which researchers are attempting to walk an ethical path while being run over at least two oncoming vehicles that represent forces out of their control. These trends lead to both an expansion of methodological concerns, and a narrowing of options for researchers to conduct cutting edge research. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the development of ethical guidelines for research on humans, describe scenarios in which these guidelines actually cause, rather than prevent, ethical dilemmas, identify some of the most current ethical concerns for researchers, and provide an effective process for resolving ethical dilemmas. The examples will be drawn from community based HIV and drug prevention research, research on traditional healing and folk medicine, research on community-university collaborations, and a bit of industrial ethnography. Some of the examples will reflect some of the ethical dilemmas produced by both politically correct and non politically correct cultural thinking.

Partnership Lifecycles and the Evolution of Collaborative Relationships

Society for Applied Anthropology,
March 31- April 4, 2004
Dallas, Texas

Abstract: Sustainability, Infrastructure and Training: The Case of Rapid Assessment, Response, and Evaluation (RARE) in HIV/AIDS Programming. Anthropologists commonly advocate creating sustainable programs with three conditions in mind: 1) local community oversight and control, 2) cross cultural applicability, and 3) infrastructure development for sustainability. Publicly, anthropologists express the hope that they will work themselves out of a job; that the local community will completely take over a program in support of their own future. This presentation will support and challenge the viability of these goals using a successful DHHS technical assistance case example. The presentation will also challenge the rationality of a future world in which communities do everything, and anthropologists have nothing left to do.

Workshop on Qualitative analysis of rapid assessment data in Vietnam

Date: August 12-15, 2003
Venue:
Horizon Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam
Host:
Ministry of Health and GAP-LIFE Vietnam
Language:
English and Vietnamese with translation
Training Faculty:
Robert Trotter, Rich Needle, Magda Ciocazan

Background of the Workshop:
The Vietnam Ministry of Health (MOH) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a plan to address programmatic and policy issues related to introducing and scaling up a comprehensive multi-component prevention program to prevent HIV transmission in injection drug users. To help develop a comprehensive HIV prevention plan, a major assessment activity initiated in 2003 to better understand and respond to epidemics of HIV in vulnerable populations was undertaken. Rapid situational assessments have been conducted in 14 provinces/cities. These provinces prepared excellent reports describing HIV trends and risks associated with HIV transmission among vulnerable populations. Data from these studies have been translated into recommendations for responding to the epidemic of HIV in drug using populations. This data will be presented in the October MOH/CDC symposium and workshop on Preventing HIV Transmission in Injection Drug Users; A Review of Evidence-Based Findings and Best Practices. Though these studies will be enormously helpful in sensitizing policy makers and informing programs, the reports can be strengthened by including more systematically analyzed qualitative data. Reviews of rapid assessment reports from the many countries where these methodologies have been used reveal that most documents do not include systematically analyzed qualitative data. Limited use of qualitative data may be attributed to a number of factors. These include limited fiscal resources, demands on time and the urgency of producing reports. Another factor is the limited experience of rapid assessment teams in the logic and analysis of qualitative data. This course is designed to enhance the skills of professionals carrying out rapid assessment studies.