The ever-growing digital world allows for quicker analysis and understanding of data. With this comes a variety of ethical issues and considerations associated with the maintenance, integration, and use of administrative data for research purposes. Before conducting research or even establishing an integrated data system, the following four principles must be considered:
- Security of the data
- Confidentiality of information contained in the data
- Permission to use data for research
- Appropriate/ethical use of the data by the researchers
Best Practice Paper: “Ethical Use of Administrative Data for Research Purposes”
The goal of the paper is to provide an overview of the ethical issues and considerations associated with the maintenance, integration, and use of administrative data for research purposes. The paper is intended as a guide for data custodians (a.k.a., data owners, data stewards) as well as for other individuals who may be granted permission to use these data for research purposes (i.e., data users/researchers).