Parallel, Embedded or Just Part of the Team: Ethicists Cooperating Within a European Security Research Project

Different methods have been developed to address ethical issues during research. In this, article ethical parallel research within a Research and Technology Organization is described. Within a European project
about perceived security, CPSI, the ethical issues were identified by ethicists cooperating in the project. The project CPSI was aimed at developing a research method that can be used by (local) government to monitor or assess perceived and actual security. Together with the researchers a way was sought to address the ethical issues. Several issues could be addressed by choices with regard to the design of the validation study, in this case a survey. The ethical and legal reasons that were
relevant for choices in the design of the validation study were made an integral part of these decisions. Participating in the research gave the ethicists access to all relevant information. It made it possible to address the ethical issues when they became relevant. Ethical reasons were part of some of the discussions on research method. It proved possible to address most ethical issues satisfactorily during the research project.