Experiences of a biostatistician on a U.K. Research Ethics Committee

Abstract

Poorly planned research liable to produce misleading results is unethical. Local Research Ethics Committees in the U.K. have a duty to assess the scientific merit of studies, of which statistical aspects are an essential component, yet few have access to a biostatistician. I present personal experience of the workload involved and general issues arising in submissions to a large teaching NHS Hospitals Trust, with emphasis on sample size. These general issues should apply to analogous committees in countries other than the U.K. The opportunity to influence the quality of all local medical research is argued to be reasonable incentive for more voluntary involvement by statisticians.