Human Practices/Resources
Human Practices Resources
On this page you will find resources on: Ethics and Responsible Research, Informed Consent, Surveys, Conducting Interviews, Organizing focus groups, Conducting Public Engagement, and General Data Protection Regulation.
Human Practices often involves working with the methods of social science (including policy and market research) or humanities research, which iGEM teams may not be familiar with. Similar to doing your synthetic biology research, conducting focus groups, historical analyses, interviews, surveys, or other research activities requires good planning,design, and sometimes formal institutional approval.
Conducting social science or humanities research
After figuring out what you want to understand (for example, "what changes would make it easier for potential users to access my project's technology?" or "how will local communities react to my research?""), you will need to think about methodology. You want to ensure that your findings give you an accurate representation of how people would think about, react to and benefit from your project.
Methodology might include sampling strategy- that is, deciding who you should reach out to. Should factors such as gender, age, income or educational background be taken into account to establish a more rounded view? You may also need to think through how to organize things like surveys and interviews. For example, how do you word a question in a jargon-free and neutral way, so that you don't bias the responses in one direction? Which questions should be asked first, and which should be saved toward the end? And, of course, it's very important that every interaction with people outside of the lab, if it is part of your research, must comply with established rules and norms in research ethics.
For more on these ideas, you can read How to Find Insights from Social Science Research Related to Your Project, a iGEM blog post written by a member of the Human Practices Committee.
These resources are a starting point
To make your Human Practices more informative, respectful, and effective, be sure to seek out methodological and ethical guidance related to your mode of inquiry. This page provides lists of resources that can help you get started.
This list is not exhaustive; you can find more resources at your local libraries and via online databases. You may also find it useful to have a chat with experienced local researchers about norms in your region regarding ethics and regulatory compliance, carrying out meaningful dialogues with stakeholders, and conducting informative interviews, focus groups or surveys.
We’re always looking for tools to help teams! If you have a resource to share, please email us at humanpractices [AT] igem [DOT] org with links to material and a short description.
Resources on Ethics and Responsible Research
Research ethics and its regulations vary from country to country. Yet there are some basic principles, such as informed voluntary participation, confidentiality, anonymity and minimising harm, that could be regarded as universal.
- The iGEMer’s Guide to the Future offers your team exercises and frameworks to get your Human Practices work started. The guide was developed during the Synenergene project and is based on the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles.
- While carrying out social research and outreach, UNESCO’s Code of Conduct for Social Science Research should be observed.
- A brief summary of key ethical concerns relating to human practices can be found on the Web Center for Social Research Methods.
- Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) Tools is curating a toolkit for understanding the relationship between science, technology and society.
Resources on Informed Consent
Similar to scientific experiments and clinical procedures, social science research requires the researchers to obtain written informed consent prior to data collection (e.g. interviews, surveys, or focus groups). In exceptional cases (e.g. disability, illiteracy, or distant data collection) recorded verbal consent is also acceptable. If you are collecting data from a minor, you will need to obtain consent from their legal guardian(s).
We recommend teams anonymise data when publishing Human Practices work (such as interview excerpts or sample feedback) both on- and offline, unless specific permission from the cited individual to use their name has been obtained.
A valid informed consent sheet consists of two parts, and often needs to be approved by a committee at your institution before you can use it. Part one informs potential participants about the data you are collecting and how you will use it. It should address the following key points:
- What information is being collected?
- Who is collecting it? You will want to provide contact details for your team and institution.
- How is it collected? (for example, will you record audio of the interview?)
- Why is it being collected?
- How will it be used?
- Who will it be shared with?
- What measures will be taken to ensure the participants’ privacy and confidentiality?
- How will participating affect the individuals concerned?
This information must be presented in clear and plain language. In addition, it is highly important to inform the participants that:
- Their participation is voluntary.
- They have the right to terminate their participation at any point of the data collection process without any adverse consequences.
Part two of the informed consent sheet is where potential participants sign their consent. Normally this consists of a checklist, which will confirm that:
- They have had the chance to ask any questions regarding the project.
- They understand that their participation is voluntary and that they could terminate their contribution at any time without consequences.
- They agree to participate in the study and (if applicable) they agree to be recorded.
Different institutions have their own criteria on how informed consent should be sought. Please check your own institution for specific instructions about and approved formats of informed consent.
Resources on Surveys
Surveys are a form of experiment, and like any experiment, they can be designed and implemented poorly. A poorly designed survey will give you ambiguous results, or worse, will bias your responses. As a result, teams should dedicate significant time to understanding how to conduct a legitimate survey if they intend for it to be a part of their project and count towards their Human Practices evaluation.
What makes a survey valid and informative? Take a look at the resources below to learn how to conduct a scientific and legitimate survey. We also suggest reaching out to social science experts in survey design who can help you.
- Designing Scientifically Valid Surveys - an iGEM blog post from members of the Human Practices Committee
- Best Practices for Survey Research
- Czaja, R. and J. Blair. 2005. Designing Surveys: A Guide to Decisions and Procedures. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. (A book providing detailed guide specific to designing surveys.)
Resources on Conducting Interviews
If you can ask the right questions, interviews will give you insights that you will not be able to learn from simply reading publications! Here are some useful tips on how to plan a good interview.
- Harvard University provides a resource, Strategies for Qualitative Interviews, that offers advice on writing questions, transcription, and other issues.
- Jacob, S. A., & Furgerson, S. P. (2012). Writing Interview Protocols and Conducting Interviews: Tips for Students New to the Field of Qualitative Research. The Qualitative Report, 17(42), 1-10. (A step-by-step guide written in accessible language.)
Resources on organizing focus groups
Similar to interviews, organising focus groups is a valuable way to learn about the actual thinking process of stakeholders. In addition to "what" people think, focus groups help you understand "how" have people come to a conclusion and under what conditions. Unlike interviews, focus groups allow you to bring together individuals with diverse views or backgrounds and see their differentiated reactions in hypothetical scenarios (what social scientists call ‘vignettes’). Focus groups are good way to collect many individual responses at once and are particularly informative if your goal is to understand how people negotiate with each other or how consensus is reached.
- England’s National Health Service’s A bite-size guide to: Running Focus Groups for Patient and Public Engagement. (While this guide was originally written for patient research, the practical steps enclosed can be applied to focus groups on various topics).
- US Environmental Protection Agency’s Public Participation Guide: Focus Groups
- Anderson, C. (2010) Presenting and Evaluating Qualitative Research. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 74(8): 141. (This provides good examples of how to present qualitative data and an Appendix with a checklist for qualitative research.)
Resources on Conducting Public Engagement
Engaging with the public is a two-way process, involving interacting with people outside of your team or lab with a goal of generating mutual understanding and mutual benefit. This not only means letting the public know what you are doing, but also requires you to understand the relevant publics’ needs and concerns, and to try to incorporate these into your research design. A two-way dialogue often requires you to stay in regular contact with relevant stakeholders throughout your project to acquire feedback and suggestions. Survey, interviews and focus groups can all be part of the public engagement process. You can also take more innovative approaches (e.g., art, social media, podcasts).
- Building With Biology provides digital kits to help facilitate and prototype public engagement. You can read about iGEM teams’ experiences using and adapting these tools on their blog.
- Tips from UK’s National Coordination Centre for Public Engagement on how to engage with policy makers, young people, and how to understand your target audience in general.
- Oxford University’s video on how to plan high quality public engagement with research.
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Watch Video: How to properly engage with stakeholders in Human practices?
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance
A member of the Human Practices committee, Pieter van Boheemen, wrote up a guide entitled Five tips to ensure your project is GDPR compliant.
Since May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is enforced by the European Union (EU), which has a global effect. This law gives EU citizens more control over their data. You may find that GDPR requirements largely mirror a general norm of good practice in research data protection in different regions. However, it is important to highlight that the GDPR is wider in scope. You should familiarise yourself with the GDPR if you are conducting Human Practices work relating to citizens of the EU. Serious violations of the GDPR may lead to penalties up to 20 million euro or 4% of annual turnover of your institute, whichever is higher.
The Scope of GDPR
The GDPR applies to "personal data" and "special category personal data".
Personal data is data about living people from which they can be identified, either directly or indirectly. Examples of personal data include name, location data, an online identifier, or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that person. We warn that personal data that has been ‘pseudonymised’ can fall within the scope of the GDPR depending on how difficult it is to attribute the pseudonym to a particular individual.
Special category personal data refers to sensitive personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a person, data concerning health or other biological characteristics.
The GDPR prescribes 7 principles relating to processing of personal data.
- Lawfulness, fairness and transparency: Data should be processed lawfully, fairly and with the data subject’s (e.g. your interviewees’ or survey participants’) full knowledge and consent (Please read the Informed Consent section).
- Purpose limitation: Data should be collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and only used for these purposes.
- Data minimisation: Data should be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes of your project.
- Accuracy: Data should be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; Inaccurate data, once detected, should be erased or rectified without delay.
- Storage limitation: Data you collected can be stored for a period after the Jamboree to allow traceability (e.g. we recommend no longer than 6 months), after which personal data should be safely destroyed or deleted.
- Integrity and confidentiality: Data should be processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data. For example, data collected from interviews or focus groups studies should be stored in a password-protected computer, preventing unauthorised or unlawful access. Appropriate measures, such as password-protected backup drive should also be applied to avert accidental loss, destruction or damage.
- Accountability: This principle requires you to take responsibility for what you do with personal data and how you comply with the other principles. You must have appropriate measures and records (e.g. signed informed consent) in place to demonstrate your compliance.
Special category personal data: In addition to the above 7 principles, if you are collecting and processing special category personal data, extra oversight is required to ensure the necessity and legitimacy of your planned data collection and that all data will be properly protected. To demonstrate your compliance, you will need to have the following:
- Institutional Research Ethics Committee review and approval
- Data minimisation and minimisation of recruitment numbers
- Anonymisation and other technical safeguards against accidental disclosure and loss or corruption of research data
- Institutional Research Ethics Committee review and approval
Depending on the nature of sensitive data you collect, you may also need additional governance checks (including Health Research Authority assessment for health research). While we recognize that not all iGEM teams have institutional resources to assist them in navigating GDPR issues, we recommend consulting institutional administration whenever possible.
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