Ethics in human subjects research: do incentives matter?

There is considerable confusion regarding the ethical appropriateness of using incentives in research with human subjects. Previous work on determining whether incentives are unethical considers them as a form of undue influence or coercive offer. We understand the ethical issue of undue influence as an issue, not of coercion, but of corruption of judgment. By doing so we find that, for the most part, the use of incentives to recruit and retain research subjects is innocuous. But there are some instances where it is not. Specifically, incentives become problematic when conjoined with the following factors, singly or in combination with one another: where the subject is in a dependency relationship with the researcher, where the risks are particularly high, where the research is degrading, where the participant will only consent if the incentive is relatively large because the participant's aversion to the study is strong, and where the aversion is a principled one. The factors we have identified and the kinds of judgments they require differ substantially from those considered crucial in most previous discussions of the ethics of employing incentives in research with human subjects.

absolute poverty the condition of having too little income to buy the necessities-- food, shelter, clothing, health care.

achieved status a social position (status) obtained through an individual's own talents and efforts.

affirmative action the requirement that employers make special efforts to recruits hire and promote qualified members of previously excluded groups including women and minorities.

aggregate a collection of unrelated people who do not know one another but who may occupy a common space--for example, a crowd of people crossing a city street.

agrarian societies societies in which large scale cultivation using plows and draft animals is the primary means of subsistence.

alienation the separation or estrangement of individuals from themselves and from others.

amalgamation the biological as well as cultural assimilation (merging) of racial or ethnic groups.

anomalies in science observations or problems that cannot be explained or solved in terms of a prevailing paradigm.

anomie a breakdown or confusion in the norms, values, and culture of a group or a society. a condition of relative normlessness.

anomie theory the theory suggesting that deviance and crime occur when there is an acute gap between cultural norms and goals and the socially structured opportunities for individuals to achieve those goals.

anticipatory socialization the process of taking on the attitudes values and behaviors of a status or role one expects to occupy in the future.

apartheid the recent policy of racial separation in south africa enforced by leg

explanation:

the 4th option is the answer