Search Panel on Research Ethics
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Is it Research or Isn't?
Health Sciences
A hospital administrative department that has recently had to deal with an infectious disease epidemic
has asked a public health researcher to conduct an assessment of their diagnosis and quarantine
procedures. The researcher will be given access to patients' records from one week prior to the
discovery of the outbreak to one week after the quarantine was lifted. The researcher will use the
available records and interview hospital staff. The goal is to determine how well diagnostic procedures
were followed and whether some early instances of the disease were misdiagnosed, as well as how
well staff and patients coped with the quarantine procedures. The researcher's report is expected to
indicate whether any changes should be made.
Humanities
Health Sciences
Social Sciences. is this research that requires ethics review