Friday afternoon’s funny – It isn’t a popularity contest
Selecting the best human research ethics framework/code/regulation cannot become a popularity contest. Fast and easy cannot be treated as a hallmark of quality. Proportional, project specific and facilitative are great standards to use. But they cannot come at the expense of participant protection, good oversight and thorough review. This Don Mayne cartoon uses a kids science project based upon crowd reaction as a metaphor for wrong way to evaluate national (or indeed institutional) standards.