Ethics Checklist - ineshbose/portion-mate GitHub Wiki

Participants were not exposed to any risks greater than those encountered in their normal working life.

Investigators have a responsibility to protect participants from physical and mental harm during the investigation. The risk of harm must be no greater than in ordinary life. Areas of potential risk that require ethical approval include, but are not limited to, investigations that occur outside usual laboratory areas, or that require participant mobility (e.g. walking, running, use of public transport), unusual or repetitive activity or movement, that use sensory deprivation (e.g. ear plugs or blindfolds), bright or flashing lights, loud or disorienting noises, smell, taste, vibration, or force feedback

The experimental materials were paper-based, or comprised software running on standard hardware.

Participants should not be exposed to any risks associated with the use of non-standard equipment: anything other than pen-and-paper, standard PCs, laptops, iPads, mobile phones and common hand-held devices is considered non-standard.

All participants explicitly stated that they agreed to take part, and that their data could be used in the project.

If the results of the evaluation are likely to be used beyond the term of the project (for example, the software is to be deployed, or the data is to be published), then signed consent is necessary. A separate consent form should be signed by each participant.

Otherwise, verbal consent is sufficient, and should be explicitly requested in the introductory script.

No incentives were offered to the participants.

The payment of participants must not be used to induce them to risk harm beyond that which they risk without payment in their normal lifestyle.

No information about the evaluation or materials was intentionally withheld from the participants.

Withholding information or misleading participants is unacceptable if participants are likely to object or show unease when debriefed.

No participant was under the age of 16.

Parental consent is required for participants under the age of 16.

No participant has an impairment that may limit their understanding or communication.

Additional consent is required for participants with impairments.

Neither I nor my supervisor is in a position of authority or influence over any of the participants.

A position of authority or influence over any participant must not be allowed to pressurise participants to take part in, or remain in, any experiment.

All participants were informed that they could withdraw at any time.

All participants have the right to withdraw at any time during the investigation. They should be told this in the introductory script.

All participants have been informed of my contact details.

All participants must be able to contact the investigator after the investigation. They should be given the details of both student and module co-ordinator or supervisor as part of the debriefing.

The evaluation was discussed with all the participants at the end of the session, and all participants had the opportunity to ask questions.

The student must provide the participants with sufficient information in the debriefing to enable them to understand the nature of the investigation. In cases where remote participants may withdraw from the experiment early and it is not possible to debrief them, the fact that doing so will result in their not being debriefed should be mentioned in the introductory text.

All the data collected from the participants is stored in an anonymous form.

All participant data (hard-copy and soft-copy) should be stored securely, and in anonymous form.