Research Ethics + Creation

The First Nations principles of ownership, control, access, and possession – more commonly known as OCAP® – assert that First Nations have control over data collection processes, and that they own and control how this information can be used.

People and cultures have always exchanged and borrowed ideas from each other to create new forms of art and symbolic expression. Whether intentionally or not, most if not all human creations reflect varied sources of inspiration.
Why, then, are some products negatively labelled “cultural appropriation” or their creators accused of disrespecting the very cultures they found inspiring? And why do products inspired from Indigenous cultural heritage seem to spark particularly strong reactions and pushback? This guide unpacks these important questions. It provides advice to designers and marketers on why and how to avoid misappropriation, and underlines the mutual benefits of responsible collaborations with Indigenous artists and communities.

Research can contribute to better understanding of the forced migration experience to inform policy and programming, but it can also cause inconvenience and harm to research respondents.[1] In situations of forced migration, the stakes are particularly high because of precarious legal status, unequal power relations, far-reaching anti-terrorism legislation, and the criminalization of migration. In response, the Canadian Council for Refugees, York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies, and the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies collaborated to complement established ethical principles with specific ethical considerations for research with people in situations of forced migration. This document highlights our guiding principles and applies the ethical concepts of voluntary, informed consent; respect for privacy; and cost-benefit analysis. It is of relevance to anyone involved in gathering information—whether in an academic or community setting—and those who are asked to take part in research.

Research 101 participants and manifesto co-authors included peer leaders in a wide variety of DTES organizations (e.g. Hives for Humanity, Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society, PACE Society, Vancouver Native Health Society, Spikes on Bikes, Sex Workers United Against Violence, BC Association of People On Methadone, Culture Saves Lives, Illicit, Carnegie Community Action Project, and the BC Centre on Substance Use).

Guidelines for Ethical Visual Research Methods presents ideas and considerations for researchers who make use of visual research methods with human participants. Susan Cox, from UBC's W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics and former external member of the ECU-REB, is a lead author of this document. Other members of the ECU-REB contributed feedback during its preparation.

The Responsible Conduct in Research Creation project (Université de Montréal) was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team in 2016-2018.

This article provides a brief summary of the history of responsible conduct of research in rc and discusses the rcrc project conducted by a team of researchers at the Université de Montréal.

The TCPS2 is based on three ethical principles: Respect for Persons; Concern for Welfare; and Justice. One aspect of "Justice" in design research, is well illustrated in this video by Sally Armstrong, 2019 CBC Massey lecturer.