Definitions on Ethics starting with C

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Definitions

In this section you will find a directory of terms used in the field of research ethics. Several have been reproduced from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

Developing countries are increasingly recognising the importance of science in developing their economies, and the challenges that entails.

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C

Capacity building

Developing the ability of individuals, organisations and countries to carry out certain activities, such as providing effective healthcare or designing and conducting resarch. Capacity building may involve a number of components, such as providing and maintaining equipment and developing human resources (for example, through appropriate training courses).

Clinical research

Such research is often conducted with patients in a medical setting, such as a hospital, and is designed to obtain better information on the natural history or pathogenesis of a condition that may lead to improved strategies for diagnosis, treatment or prevention of a disease. See also Phase I-IV trials. [Source: Nuffield Council on Bioethics]

Control group

A control group in clinical research and clinical trials (see clinical research and clinical trials) contains participants who are not given the intervention being tested, and is compared with a group who are given the intervention. In clinical trials, the intervention would normally be a novel treatment, such as a medicine or vaccine, but interventions may also be social and behavioural in nature (for example, safe sex campaigns). [Source: Nuffield Council on Bioethics]

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