When
used
exclusively
for
assessment,
management,
or
improvement
purposes
the
following
data
collection
activities
are
typically
not
research
and
do
not
require
ethics
review,
provided
there
is
no
element
of
research:
- quality assurance and improvement (QA/QI) projects,
- performance reviews, or
- testing related to assessing performance of employees or students within normal educational or employment requirements,
This
position
is
consistent
with
Article
2.5
in
the
Tri-Council
Policy
Statement:
Ethical
Conduct
for
Research
Involving
Humans.
These
activities
are
generally
administered
in
the
ordinary
course
of
the
operation
of
the
organization
where
participation
is
required
by
employees
or
students,
for
example,
performance
appraisals
and
student
course
evaluations.
The
results
or
findings
from
these
activities
are
not
generally
available
for
public
release
outside
the
institution.
Although
the
activities
above
may
be
exempt
from
research
ethics
review,
it
is
expected
that
the
project
be
conducted
professionally
and
ethically
following
the
guiding
principles
of
the
Tri-Council
Policy
Statement.
This
includes:
- protecting the interests of the participants, from bodily to psychological to cultural integrity,
- respecting free and informed consent so participation is voluntary and there is no undue exercise of power of authority or undue influence, and
- respecting privacy and confidentiality so, for example, participants’ decision to participate and their data or information are not identified without their consent.
Definition of QA/QI
QA/QI
projects
assess
how
an
organization,
group,
faculty,
department,
or
program
is
doing
and
is
an
activity
undertaken
by
members
of
the
University
of
Waterloo
for
administrative
or
operational
reasons.
For
a
QA/QI
project
to
be
exempt
from
ethics
review,
all
of
the
following
must
apply:
- the project must be within the mandate of the University of Waterloo or according to the terms and conditions of employment or training,
- the project must be a review of practices and procedures designed to identify possible improvements,
- the project only involves participation of University of Waterloo employees, students or alumni and relates only to the specific site or area such as the department, program, school, faculty, employee group, or key informants such as co-op employers, and
- results tend to be local to the University of Waterloo such that they are not generally available for public release outside the institution however in some instances dissemination or publication may mean the results are shared at a conference or other public means or with a Ministry or accrediting body.
The University of Waterloo has a policy on conducting campus-wide surveys for QA/QI purposes. Faculty, staff, or students who are looking to conduct a QA/QI project are to contact Jana Carson in Institutional Analysis and Planning to discuss their project. Even though a QA/QI project may not require ethics review, there may still be ethical issues or sensitivities that have to be considered.