Case #15: Reporting a questionnaire survey

Cases are examples of questions and inquiries we recieve in the Guidance Function, which we would like to share for inspiration.

A researcher contacted the Guidance Function with an inquiry regarding approval from the ethics committee to carry out a questionnaire survey.

The rules for which research projects that must be reported to a scientific ethics committee are clearly stated in The Committees Act. All health science studies are subject to notification, which means that every health science research project must be reported to the scientific ethics committee system, cf. §14 of the Committees Act. However, there are exceptions, cf. the Committees Act §14 subsection 2-5., which means that research projects, referred to in these exceptions, do not have to be reported to a scientific ethics committee. Questionnaire surveys are referred to in §14 subsection 2, where it states that questionnaire studies only have to be reported to the scientific ethics committee system, if the project includes human biological material.

For further information visit the website (in Danish), Hvad skal jeg anmelde? | Nationalt Center for Etik.

In this case, we assisted the researcher to get an overview of whether a questionnaire study should be reported to a scientific ethics committee or not.

Please feel free to contact us if you need guidance in your research project. Our services are free, and we aim to reply to any inquiries within 2-4 working days.
The Guidance Function offers first-level support for Danish and international researchers in need of help to navigate the requirements and processes surrounding research projects.

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