Consulting the Community: Limits and Expectations Commentary on 'Strategies for Consulting with the Community: The cases of four Large-scale databanks' (Godardetal.)

摘要

Consulting with the community in the design and implementation of a research project is an expression of respect. It is an acknowledgement of people's ultimate right to decide for themselves, individually or as a group, what is bes,t for them. It is also a recognition that the public provides the financial support for research and, more importantly, it is society in whose name research is carried out. Consultation implies some level of partnership. It emphasizes that the research community is a part of society rather than independent and apart from it, and underscores the notion that scientific research and its findings ought to contribute to the public good.