answer post 1 and post 2
post 1
Should research participants be compensated financially? Why?
I think that researchers should provide compensation to participants for their time (e.g. time off work) and reimbursement for out of pocket expenses, but I dont think compensation should be a form of incentive used to encourage participation. I agree with Dickert and Grady that by using money as a recruitment tool, vulnerable groups (e.g. homeless, drug users, gamblers) will end up bearing a large share of the burden of research participation. I think financial compensation may end up impairing judgment or compromise voluntary decision making, and potentially compromise informed consent. Personally, I think the most ethically appropriate form of compensation, in this case, would be the use of lottery draws for prizes. Participants have an equal change to win the prize, however the prize is not significant enough to influence participation in the study.
Post 2
It is my belief there is a moral obligation to participate in medical research. I will note one of the biggest challenges that stood in my way of so easily saying yes is the histories of terrible practices of the past, such as Tuskegee and Nuremberg. However, I believe that John Harris makes some pretty interesting points in his article that circled back to decisions I’ve made in the past. Bare in mind, the decisions I made didn’t directly connect to research, but they came back to a moral obligation. First, when I became a licensed driver, I registered as an organ donor. The purpose of me doing so was I felt a moral obligation to help someone in their time of need. The second thing I thought about was getting vaccinated this year against covid-19. I did this with a purpose to be part of a population who took a chance for medical purposes, I wanted to be a part of a larger number of individuals who took a chance for a greater good. The thing here is, because people before me took a chance and were involved in medical research, they helped give me the confidence to take a chance. I believe we as a society have a moral obligation to look out for one and other, and I believe that informed, and fully consented medical research can help pave the way to those sorts of opportunities.
