title: Phronesis: Beyond the Research Ethics Committee-A Crucial Decision-Making Skill for Health Researchers During Community Research.
abstract: Health researchers conducting research in the community are often faced with unanticipated ethical issues that arise in the course of their research and that go beyond the scope of ethical approval by the research ethics committee. Eight expert researchers were selected through extreme intensity purposive sampling, because they are representative of unusual manifestations of the phenomenon related to their research in the community. They were selected to take part in a semi-structured focus group discussion on whether practical wisdom (phronesis) is used as a decision-making skill to solve unanticipated ethical issues during research in the community. Although the researchers were not familiar with the concept phronesis, it became obvious that it formed an integral part of their everyday existence and decision making during intervention research. They could balance research ethics with practical considerations. The capacity of practical wisdom as a crucial decision-making skill should be assimilated into a researcher's everyday reality, and also into the process of mentoring young researchers to become phronimos. Researchers should be taught this skill to handle unanticipated ethical issues.
authors.affiliation: Stellenbosch University, South Africa North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa Minrie.greeff@nwu.ac.za.
authors.forename: Minrie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Greeff
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rennie
mesh_terms: D026688:Bioethical Issues; D003657:Decision Making; D026689:Ethical Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D028744:Ethics Committees, Research; D032984:Ethics, Research; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D011361:Professional Competence; D012106:Research; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000941:ethics*; D012111:Residence Characteristics
keywords: community; ethics; health research; participant; phronesis; practical wisdom; researcher