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