Research Ethics
Frame Changers #151: Neglected Tropical Diseases
[Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a group of diseases that impact over 1.4 Billion of the poorest people in developing countries. They don’t get as much attention because the market is not as lucrative or accessible.]
Frame Changers #106: Proof Is In The Pie
[Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard for establishing an intervention’s effectiveness. In the entrepreneurial world, nothing establishes a product’s success like a steady flow of happy customers.]
Frame Changers #72: Picky Data Collectors
[Smart Phones with full alphanumeric keyboards are better than simple numeric keypad phones for data entry. At the same time, they are not the most convenient for collecting descriptive data and have error rates only slightly better than pen and paper.]
Frame Changers #52: Big Data; Small Problem
[Data collection, aggregation, and digitization is extremely difficult in low-resource settings. As Big Data innovators find practical ways to analyze and utilize the data, an emphasis on reliable ways of collecting data is just as important.]
Frame Changers #42: Truth Serum for Research?
[Local customs often dictate that a beverage (or even a meal) be shared with research participants as part of the data collection process. Alcohol is almost never permitted by universities.]
Frame Changers #37: Research Fatigue
[Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya, is grossly over-researched. Every single day, 20-50 groups of researchers with clipboards and cameras go around asking residents all kinds of intrusive questions. How much of this research actually benefits the communities?]
Frame Changers #36: Placebo or Nocebo
[Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) in which one group gets an experimental drug and others a placebo are common. Although amends to the the Helsinki Declaration have minimized ethical breaches, illnesses like Ebola that don’t have a cure, bring up a host of medical ethics issues. (In Latin, Placebo = I Shall Please and Nocebo = I Shall Harm)]