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Ethical challenges in studying families at risk – experiences from the pilot study of the FamResPlan research project

Ethical issues in family studies are always a challenge for researchers, no matter what methods are planned to be used in the research design. Plenty of ethical questions and possible answers will be presented in this presentation on the example of a pilot study of the research project „Specific Characteristics of Families at Risk: Contribution to Complex Interventions Planning“(FamResPlan). The aim of the project is to gain insight and new knowledge about families at-risk, specifically within the frame of the following concepts: resilience, readiness for change and quality of life. Ahead of the pilot-study, in the study planning phase, the research team considered and discussed the ethical challenges in the study and defined an ethical standard which will be followed by researchers through the pilot-study with a special emphasis on the ethical challenges for which no clear answers exist (e.g. compensation for participation in the study, providing adequate information about research to participants, gaining the informed consent in an adequate way, etc.). In order to assure a high ethical standard, all members of the research team agreed on the decided ethical principles and established an Ethical Committee comprised of internal and external experts who will provide guidance and support in the case of unexpected or expected but sensitive ethical issues, as they occur. Experiences gained through the pilot study were useful in the modification of the previously established Code of Ethics and provided helpful insights in a variety of ethical challenges. These insights were used to find new solutions that ensure a high ethical standard in the main study that is currently being carried out. The basic belief about ethics as a process and not a simple “question and answer” phenomenon is widely implemented and accepted.

Ethical issues, family studies. FamResPlan

founded by Croatian Science Foundation (CSF IP- 2014-09-9515)