Rules to Consider in Social and Human Sciences Ethics Committee Applications

RULES TO BE FOLLOWED IN APPLICATIONS TO AYBU SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES ETHICS COMMITTEE

These rules were determined by the AYBU Social and Human Sciences Ethics Committee at the meeting dated 9.03.2022, and must be taken into account in all applications to be made from this date onwards.

  1. The AYBU Social and Human Sciences Ethics Committee Project Approval Form must be completed in full.
  2. A current telephone number (to be used if necessary in case e-mail cannot be reached) should be provided in the "Researcher/Researchers section".
  3. The researcher's relationship with AYBU (AYBU faculty member, lecturer, doctoral/master's or undergraduate student) should be clearly stated.
  4. The start and end dates of the study indicate the start and end dates of the data collection process. The study cannot begin before obtaining ethics committee approval. The data collection start date should be planned after obtaining ethics committee permission.
  5. The application status of the research should be filled in carefully; if the same research has been applied for before or if there is a protocol change, it should be clearly stated; in this case, a new application should not be made.
  6. The places where the research data are planned to be collected should be clearly and precisely stated. In this context, the use of vague expressions such as school, hospital, NGO should be avoided.
  7. While writing the broad summary of the research; topic, purpose, scope and method sections should be written in a way that reveals that the literature has been scanned, and citation rules should be followed in this process. In this context, researchers are advised to use APA 7. On the other hand, researchers can also use MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver citation styles, provided that they are consistent. After writing the broad summary, researchers should give the sources they used while writing this section under the heading "bibliography" in the method section.
  8. The method section of the research should completely include the following headings:
    • Model of the research (The model to be used while conducting the research should be stated. For example, phenomenology design from qualitative research approaches, pre-test-post-test control group experimental design from quantitative research approaches, explanatory mixed design, etc.)
    • Population, sample or study group: The sampling method to be used when selecting the study group or sample should be stated. For example, simple random sampling method or convenient sampling, which is one of the non-random sampling methods, etc.
    • Data collection tools: Information should be given about how the research data will be collected. For example; scale, questionnaire, semi-structured interview form, etc. In this context, researchers must submit the measurement tools they will use to the ethics committee with an appendix. If a measurement tool will be adapted to Turkish for the first time in the research, in this case, the original items of the measurement tool and the items translated into Turkish should be submitted to the ethics committee. If researchers will collect data using some tools with special usage permission, they must also submit to the ethics committee a document proving that they are authorized to use these tools. For example; some measurement tools used by the Turkish Psychologists Association, provided that they receive training.
    • Data collection process/Procedure: Information about issues such as permission processes for collecting research data, how the data will be collected, how participants will be reached, how participants will be informed about the research, and the implementation of informed consent forms should be given under this heading.
    • Analysis of data: Brief information should be given about how the research data will be analyzed. For example, the data will be analyzed using the SPSS package program, the data will be analyzed using descriptive analysis or content analysis, etc.1
  9. In case of giving training to participants, applying a therapy, etc. in the research, these processes should be explained in detail; the content of the training program or therapy should be shared with the ethics committee.
  10. If researchers conduct studies with human subjects, they are obliged to submit an "informed consent form" to the ethics committee. In this context, if the participant is over 18 years old, their own consent, if they are under 18 years old, that is, a child, both their own consent and the consent of the parent (legal guardian) must be obtained. When conducting research with preschool children, the principle of the best interests of the child should be taken into account, and no child should be forced to participate in2 the research, have pictures drawn, or be interviewed.
  11. Identity information or information that will reveal their identity should not be obtained from participants in the research. If it is mandatory to obtain this information, this situation must be stated in the ethics committee application, and this information must also be included in the informed consent form.
  12. If the research is conducted with sensitive (children, adolescents, pregnant women, elderly, individuals with special needs...) and disadvantaged groups (immigrants, minorities, individuals involved in or committed crimes, individuals under state protection...), no initiative that may harm these groups should be taken, and data collection tools should be carefully selected. In addition, the measures to be taken when working with these groups should be included in the application form.
  13. In experimental studies, it is recommended that the process, training, application applied to the experimental group be applied to the control group after the experiment in terms of ensuring equal opportunity. Information about this should be given in the application form, and plans should be made accordingly.
  14. In some researches; it is also necessary to obtain permission from the institution where the research will be conducted. In this context, it is not mandatory to submit the permission documents to the ethics committee; The necessary information about obtaining permission from these institutions should be explained under the heading "data collection process/procedure" in the method3 section.

After creating the Application Form in ABS, the first page should be printed out, and the signature section of the applicants should be signed with wet ink, scanned, and added to the application attachments section.