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In this article, the focus of which is research with children, Peter Allmark considers ethical issues in relation to both quantitative and qualitative research. Guidelines on the ethical conduct of research with children focus primarily on issues to do with quantitative research (e.g. RCPCH 2000). For this reason, this article tries to draw out points of particular importance to qualitative research. It begins with some assumptions and points of terminology, before briefly describing the history of the development of ethical regulation. It then discusses specific ethical issues that arise when researching with children. These are placed into three main categories: scientific validity, welfare, and rights and dignity.
Keywords: research, ethics, children, scientific validity, welfare, rights
Introduction: terminology and assumptions
Under the UK Children Act (1989), a child is defined as any person under the age of 18 years. Case law recognises three stages of childhood (Kennedy and Grubb 1998). First, there are children of tender years. These children lack the capacity to consent to healthcare treatment. Second, there are `Gillick competent' children. These are children under 16-years old who have developed sufficient maturity such that they are able to consent to some or most healthcare procedures. The term `Gillick competence' comes from the legal case in which the principle that a child could be competent to consent was established (Gillick v. W. Norfolk & Wisbech AHA [1985] AC 112). Finally, there are 16- and 17-year-olds. Under the Family Law Reform Act (1987), these young people are treated similarly to adults in that they are assumed competent unless there are grounds to believe they are not. Their only difference from adults is that if they are not competent then their parents may consent for them. This article will focus on children in the first two stages. The former will be termed 'younger' and the latter 'older'. However, the reader should beware of this terminology. A chronologically older child will not necessarily be competent; for example, a 15-year-old with a severe learning disability is unlikely to be competent.
This article will make use of a distinction between therapeutic and nontherapeutic research. Therapeutic research is research that involves interventions where the participants stand a reasonable chance of obtaining therapeutic benefit. The typical example would be a...