ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH ETHICS KNOWLEDGE WITH PREVIOUS RESEARCH EXPOSURE AND ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION AMONG FOOD AND NUTRITION GRADUATES IN PAKISTAN

Main Article Content

Ayesha Saeed

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding research ethics and its association with previous research exposure and academic qualification among food and nutrition graduate students of Pakistan.

METHODS: This cross-sectional survey was conducted from April-May 2016. A structured-questionnaire was e-mailed to food and nutrition students from different cities of Pakistan. The questionnaire had four parts; demography, prior exposure to research, knowledge and attitude regarding research ethics. Chi-Square Test and Fisher’s Exact test were applied to assess association and data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPPS) version 20.

RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 28.964 +7.985 years (range 21-59). A total of 280/400 (70%) respondents completed the questionnaire. Majority (91.1 %) of the participants was females and 60% had completed post-graduate education. About 96.4% participants reported prior involvement in research but only 21.4% had international publications. More than 80% of the respondents stated that they had knowledge about key concepts of research ethics but only 41.1% knew about Nuremberg Code and 42.9% about Helsinki Declaration. Scenario-based statements assessing attitudes had mixed results. Previous exposure to research, training in research ethics, international publications, application to research ethics committee (REC), and being a post-graduate was associated with knowledge of ethical principles (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION: Self-reported knowledge was good but students lacked correct attitude. Post-graduate students and those with research experience had better knowledge regarding research ethics.

KEY WORDS: Knowledge (MeSH); Attitude (MeSH); Research (MeSH); Ethics (MeSH); Students (MeSH); Ethics Committees, Research (MeSH); Codes of Ethics (MeSH); Helsinki Declaration (MeSH).

Article Details

How to Cite
Saeed, A. “ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH ETHICS KNOWLEDGE WITH PREVIOUS RESEARCH EXPOSURE AND ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION AMONG FOOD AND NUTRITION GRADUATES IN PAKISTAN”. KHYBER MEDICAL UNIVERSITY JOURNAL, vol. 9, no. 3, Sept. 2017, pp. 140-5, https://www.kmuj.kmu.edu.pk/article/view/16927.
Section
Original Articles
Author Biography

Ayesha Saeed, University of South Asia

Senior lecturer, dept of nutrition sciences, faculty of health sciences

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