Challenges associated with ethics review of educational research at a South African university

Abstract

This article analyses the decisions and feedback from reviewers of a decentralised ethics committee to applicants in a two-year period. Results indicate that the review of research protocols by an ethics committee are complicated by challenges related to factors such as the formal requirements for review, process of informed consent, research design, how power relationships are addressed, and sample selection. These challenges are put into perspective by discussing organisational factors that lead to ethical divide rather than ethical synergy between ethics committee members and applicants.