DBA Research Ethics Committee. Upon reviewing the ethics application, there are Moderate Revisions Required. This means that all forms and required information have been submitted, and forms and documentation almost satisfactorily completed, but with some clarifications required. Please find attached relevant feedback to your ethics application and additional comments (see below) that you need to clarify and address. 1. Provide your response to given comments in the orange column of the ethics response form; 2. Provide your short response to the comments below to explain how each was addressed; 3. Adjust any other document/s of the ethics application that require improvements. Comments You are explicit in identifying an organisational context of increasing claims of medical negligence and litigation, and you construct your research as an attempt to address these and other issues. This means that your research is going to involve highly sensitive issues, potentially with legal and/or professional implications for the organisation and individuals within it. It is therefore crucial that all potential risks and issues are very carefully considered and thoroughly addressed, and it means that this application is a little more complex than usual. There are four main areas which require further clarification or detail from you. I have detailed specific questions are requirements in the Ethics Response Form, and it is important that you address them thoroughly and systematically. Here I outline what the main issues are and why they are important to address: 1. Risk management You need to give much fuller consideration to the range of potential risks implied by your research project, and then how such risks can be mitigated or managed. Unfortunately it is not enough to simply act in good faith and to assume that others will too. You must carefully consider both what could go wrong and potentially harm any individuals, the organisation or yourself; and also consider how you ensure that you are perceived to be acting well. Areas of risk that need more consideration include: Your dual role as both researcher and manager: Would you be in a position of authority over some participants? Or there could be other forms of soft power held either by you or participants over one another? Potential power imbalances between participants in focus groups Subject matter: You are inviting participants to discuss what is going wrong in the organisation and what needs to change. What are the risks of individuals or groups blaming each other, or taking the opportunity to try to claim more power/control/ for themselves? What are the risks of victimization of certain groups or individuals? Unintended information: Given that your research highlights cases of legal action and alleged medical negligence, malpractice, poor practice etc, consider the risk of participants revealing actions by themselves or others that might have legal or professional implications. 2. Details of research methods Some details of your methodology need adding or further discussion: Arrangements for conducting interviews and focus groups e.g. location, ensuring privacy etc. How interview and focus group members will be sampled, and approached. Will interviews and focus groups be comprised of different participants or might any/all take part in both? How participants will be given the option to decline to take part in an interview or focus group More generally, the end point of the study is unclear. You refer to doing action research but only describe collecting participant opinions. What interventions in the organisation, if any, will be undertaken as part of the research? How will these be measured and/or evaluated? 3. Data handling and privacy As well as considering how participant personal data will be kept secure, you must specifically address how you will ensure that participants or other organisational members they refer to cannot be identified from presentation of research data. 4. Using the correct forms Both the Participant Information Sheet and Informed Consent Form need to be completed using the most up to date templates. These can be found in your thesis classroom under Class Materials. These templates include essential and mandatory sections which ensure that your research is compliant with the latest legislation regarding handling of personal data. You should be able to cut and paste most of your existing text into the appropriate template. General comments These comments are not to do with the ethics of your research, but you may wish to consider them and discus them with your supervisor. Your research aims are extremely ambitious and wide ranging: reviewing and improving management structures and increasing collaboration between management and clinical staff; developing autonomous teams; applying TQM practices.
