Ethical nonsense
2:02 pm on the 26th of November, 2004I can’t remember who it was but some big company gave the university money to build their nice shiny new medical building.
One of the conditions for this was that any research that the university, it’s staff, or it’s students carry out must comply with the company’s own ethical standards, which is all well and good. Until you realise what it involves and what it covers. For instance, on my course we have to do some group design projects, one of which includes asking people what they like/don’t like about their toothbrush. Before we do this though we have to hand in a 7 page application form to the Ethics Committee, prepare a plain language statement for all the respondants to read, and a consent form for them to sign. If we carry out questionnaires without this procedure then we’re supposed to not use the information.
So I have decided to put our questionnaire on the internet so that you can ignore it and not put any of your answers in the comments box.
You may also like to not add in your thoughts on what makes you decide what toothbrush to buy or how long you spend considering the options before picking one.
It would also help if you didn’t tell us what innovations you want in your toothbrush.
So here is a list of questions for you to not answer
- Are you male of female?
- What is your age?
- What brand of toothbrush do you use?
- Do you use an electric toothbrush
- How often do you buy a new toohbrush?
- How often do you brush your teeth
- How long do you spend brushing your teeth each time?
- Do you use a travel toothbrush when away from home?
- If you could change one thing about your toothbrush, what would it be?
For the following questions please do not put a number to indicate how strongly you agree (1-strongly agree, 5-strongly disagree.
- Price is important to me when selecting a toothbrush
- If a toothbrush looks cheap then it won’t work well
- Innovative features are important in a toothbrush
- A toothbrush should be aesthetically pleasing
- I always buy one of the cheapest toothbrushes I can find
- Brand name is important to me when selecting a toothbrush
Thank you for not being helpful.
November 26th, 2004 at 9:38 pm on the 26th of November, 2004
How personal. Well, I’m male. 27. I don’t know the brand of toothbrush though. It’s an electric one. You’ve been in my bathroom, you should have seen it, and remembered. So, the answer to 4, is yes. I never buy new toothbrushes, nor heads, my wife does it. Maybe once every six months, but you get four heads per pack (that’s two each). I brush twice a day.
This takes a while, eh?
Answer to 7. I don’t know, two minutes or something. Question 8. No. Question 9. Not sure, I would probably like it not to run out of charge so quickly. I quite like it in general.
Then, the other questions will be answered 2, 2, 4, 4, 3, 4.
That was much harder than I would have imagined a toothbrush questionnaire to have been.
November 26th, 2004 at 9:39 pm on the 26th of November, 2004
It’s a nice building though.
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