Phronesis: Beyond the Research Ethics Committee-A Crucial Decision-Making Skill for Health Researchers During...

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Community-Based Research
• Qualitative Research Methods

Background:

• Community-based health research frequently presents unanticipated ethical challenges.
• Existing ethical approvals may not cover all emergent ethical issues encountered during research.
• The role of practical wisdom in addressing these dilemmas is not well-defined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore whether expert researchers utilize practical wisdom (phronesis) as a decision-making skill.
• To investigate how practical wisdom aids in resolving unanticipated ethical issues during community-based research.

Main Methods:

• Extreme intensity purposive sampling to recruit eight expert researchers.
• Semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted.
• Qualitative analysis of discussions to identify decision-making processes.

Main Results:

• Researchers, though unfamiliar with the term 'phronesis', demonstrated its application in daily decision-making.
• Practical wisdom enabled researchers to effectively balance ethical considerations with practical research realities.
• Phronesis was integral to managing unanticipated ethical issues in intervention research.

Conclusions:

• Practical wisdom (phronesis) is a critical, albeit often implicit, decision-making skill for community-based health researchers.
• Developing and integrating phronesis into researcher training and mentorship is essential.
• Explicitly teaching practical wisdom can better equip researchers to handle complex ethical situations.