Clarifying the concept of the “Social” in risk assessments for human subjects research

ABSTRACT

International guidelines for the conduct of research with human participants, such as those put forth by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS, 2002), recommend that research review committees account for social risk and benefits to society in their review of proposed research. What do the concepts of the “social” and “society” mean in the context of the review of human participants research? Here we analyze concepts of social and society to define the terms: social harm, social risk, social benefit, and benefits to society. We argue that use of these terms invite more questions than answers and beg for difficult empirical research to determine the nature, likelihood, and magnitude of this category of risk and benefit. Until more research is done and these questions are answered, we advise reviewers to adopt an attitude of provisionalism and caution in their review of specifically “social” risks and benefits and “benefits to society.”

KEYWORDS:

• Research risks
• social science research
• research benefits
• social
• society

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Notes

¹ We would like to thank one of the anonymous reviewers of this manuscript for this attempt at clarification.

² Definition truncated to remove rare, obsolete, or repetitive instances included in the original entry.

³ Social benefit (noun): A. a benefit to society frequently resulting from technological advancement, b. a benefit payable under a social security system (“social, adj. and n.” OED Online 2012).