Individuals who decide to take on the role of being a researcher and understanding certain
events and how they came to be can be very challenging task to complete. Most times, the
researchers try their best to make sure that they are following all ethical rules to complete their
conclusions and experiments, but in some cases these experiments can be harmful to the test
subjects specifically human test subjects. Based on the severity of the research, it is still essential
for the researchers to keep a limit to how far their experiment is being taken away and that all
human subjects are kept in their sane minds which is extremely crucial for their well being and
for the community they belong in. In addition, it is very important for the researchers and the
Ethics Board to keep their reputation.
The rights of the humans should never be put on the edge during their experiments
regardless of their stand in the community as portrayed by certain groups and communities. The
main goal to enforcing a set of rules for executing research is to make sure that the health
(mental and physical) of the test subject are stable at all times during the experiment and that the
test subjects are entitled to their own consent and can back out whenever they want to.
During the 1940s, it was quite easy for researchers to execute experiments using test
subjects due to the lack of ethical implications and the lack of attention given to ethical reasoning
behind the experiments. Due to this, many test subjects were put into these experiments against
their will. The indigenous adults and children of Canada during the early 40s were already facing
the struggle of being a minority and the emotional and physical instability of residential schools
which put them through a never ending pain even after they left residential schools.
In addition, their pain extended as they were put through vigorous human testing of
nutritional experiments led by the Canadian government. It's not a shock, that the Canadian
government had specifically picked the aboriginals to conduct their experiment even though
there could have been other human test subjects readily available. Although, their reasoning
behind getting the aboriginal people to be test subjects was meant for the sole purpose of data,
they did not realize when the test subjects were beginning to feel in danger and their health was
deteriorating. The decreasing health of the children in residential schools after various testing
and the blockage of certain supplements had put their lives in danger was not a concern for the
researchers.
Researchers, often do get a bit carried away with their experiments with the end goal of
getting sufficient data that they usually forget that certain individuals might be subject to danger.
Due to this, it is crucial to the test subject; researchers should keep certain values and morals in
mind while executing their experiments. It is important that their main goal is still portrayed but
with the right ethics and a good sense of morality to recognize their work and also to keep the
health of their subjects well to have a positive impact on the IRB and on the research team
therefore further experiments can be conducted without any implications on ethics.