The exercises in this section on ethics are designed to help you think about the issues that we are discussing and to formulate some opinions. In general, there are no wrong or right answers but you need to give reasons for your answers.

Question 3.73

3.73 Do these proposals involve minimal risk?

You are a member of your college’s institutional review board. You must decide whether several research proposals qualify for lighter review because they involve only minimal risk to subjects. Federal regulations say that “minimal risk” means the risks are no greater than “those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests.” That’s vague. Which of these do you think qualifies as “minimal risk”?

  1. Draw a drop of blood by pricking a finger in order to measure blood sugar.
  2. Draw blood from the arm for a full set of blood tests.
  3. Insert a tube that remains in the arm, so that blood can be drawn regularly.

3.73

(a) Minimal. (b) Minimal. (c) Not minimal.