Lay summary of your proposed research (less than 300 words). This should explain the reason for the research and what the research involves. This should be comprehensible to a non-specialist reader.
Scientific Summary of proposal. This should be less than 300 words, indicating: Research questions (hypothesis), rationale, proposed data collection and analysis, and dissemination route.
Recruitment and informed consent procedures. This should be less than 100 words (please consider appropriate sampling permits, consent for access to private sites, coercion, dignity and participant independence. Include consent forms, participants information sheets or relevant evidences)
The research proposal should be based on primary data.
I will also need the summary of the research proposal for my ethical review.
Safety of the researcher (please confirm that the appropriate health and safety form or laboratory COSHH form has been submitted).
Confidentiality (please describe how participant and or data confidentiality will be maintained).
Please identify any ethical issues and strategies to deal with them e.g. Sensitive scientific or cultural sites, Detrimental effects on the environment (e.g changes on slope instability or ecological equilibrium) Deception, Vulnerable groups
Risks and Benefits (please describe any potential risks and or benefits of participation in the study and comment on the balance of risks and benefits within the proposal).
Please state any conflict of interests
Conformation with current conventions (please confirm that the research has been designed and will be conducted according to professional and or national / international guidance, such as the Geological fieldwork code, British Psychological Society etc.)
Please complete the final checklist, ticking for each question ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Yes
No
Does the study involve human research participants?
Are there risks of damage to physical and or ecological environmental features?
Are there risks of damage to features of historical or cultural heritage?
Will the research be conducted in protected scientific, cultural or heritage sites?
Are there risks of damage to sensitive flora or fauna?
Do human participants take part in studies without their consent or will deception of any form be used?
Does the study involve vulnerable or dependent participants (e.g. children or people with learning difficulties)
Does the study involve observation or discussion of sensitive, sexual, political, financial or illicit behaviour?
Could the study induce psychological distress or anxiety in participants or third parties?
Will the study involve prolonged or repetitive testing or participants?
Does the study involve the use of ionising radiation?
SEES Masters Level Ethical Review Information Sheet
Rational
Environmental ethics concerns human beings’ ethical relationship with the natural environment. While numerous philosophers have written on this topic throughout history, environmental ethics only developed into a specific philosophical discipline in the 1970s. This emergence was no doubt due to the increasing awareness in the 1960s of the effects that technology, industry, economic expansion and population growth were having on the environment. The development of such awareness was aided by the publication of two important books at this time. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, first published in 1962, alerted readers to how the widespread use of chemical pesticides was posing a serious threat to public health and leading to the destruction of wildlife. Of similar significance was Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 book, The Population Bomb, which warned of the devastating effects the spiralling human population has on the planet’s resources.
Of course, pollution and the depletion of natural resources have not been the only environmental concerns since that time: dwindling plant and animal biodiversity, the loss of wilderness, the degradation of ecosystems, and climate change are all part of a raft of “green” issues that have implanted themselves into both public consciousness and public policy over subsequent years. The job of environmental ethics is to outline our moral obligations in the face of such concerns. In a nutshell, the two fundamental questions that environmental ethics must address are: what duties do humans have with respect to the environment, and why? The latter question usually needs to be considered prior to the former. In order to tackle just what our obligations are, it is usually thought necessary to consider first why we have them. For example, do we have environmental obligations for the sake of human beings living in the world today, for humans living in the future, or for the sake of entities within the environment itself, irrespective of any human benefits?
Submission
All research undertaken by students or staff, whether primary (involving fieldwork) or secondary (involving work which draws on already published sources), requires ethical approval. Masters students must submit their completed SEES Ethical Review form, Draft Research Proposal and Health and Safety form to their supervisor by the date agreed.
A favourable ethical opinion must be awarded before fieldwork or any data collection can commence. In the first instance, your supervisor will review the submitted documentation, however, if any ethical issues are identified the SEES Ethics Representatives Dr Michelle Bloor and Dr Carmen Solana will also consider your application. A favourable or unfavourable ethical outcome will be awarded – if you receive an unfavourable outcome, the proposed research must be modified to address the highlighted ethical issues. If a favourable outcome is awarded, your research can go ahead as planned.
A copy of your ethics form must also be incorporated into your thesis. Please refer to the thesis guidelines for further details.