Research with people and their data

When your research involves people, or data about people, you have extra duties.

Three principles

The Belmont Report (1979), written after serious abuses in medical research, set out three principles that most research ethics rules still follow:

• Respect for persons. People decide for themselves whether to take part. They must give informed consent: they know what the study is, what it asks of them, the risks, and that they can stop at any time.
• Beneficence. Do not harm, and keep risks as small as possible compared with the benefits.
• Justice. Share the burdens and benefits fairly. Do not always study the same easy-to-reach or vulnerable groups.

Ethics review

Universities and hospitals have an ethics committee (called an IRB in the US, and often an Institutional Ethics Committee in India). Studies with people, such as surveys, interviews or experiments, usually need its approval before they start. Ask your supervisor early. Approval can take weeks.

Personal data and the law

In India, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 governs digital personal data. In simple terms: collect personal data only for a clear purpose, with valid consent, keep it safe, use it only for that purpose, and delete it when the purpose is done. Other countries have similar laws, such as the GDPR in the European Union.

Practical rules for student projects

• Collect only the data you need. If you do not need names, do not ask for them.
• Remove or replace names and IDs before analysis (pseudonymise).
• Store data securely, not in public folders or chat groups.
• Scraped data is not automatically free to use. Check the site's terms and the dataset licence.
• Be careful with data about children, health, religion, caste or other sensitive topics.

RememberIf you would feel uncomfortable explaining to a participant exactly what you did with their data, do not do it.