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Ethics of Human Studies

The University is concerned with safeguarding the rights of people in the conduct of its affairs both on and off campus. Students may be requested to serve, on a voluntary basis, as human research subjects for certain of their courses. In such instances, the course outlines prepared by instructors must describe the students' expected roles as subjects. Courses may also follow the pedagogical practice of assigning students to serve as apprentice researchers, e.g., interviewing community members. In all course work dealing with human studies, the usual ethical guidelines with respect to risks and benefits, informed consent, deception, privacy and confidentiality must be followed both by students and their instructors. Students should be referred to departmental ethics committees for information in regard to ethical safeguards. (Further details may be found in the University of Calgary publication entitled Ethics of Human Studies.)