Chapter 4.3, Problem 110E

(a)

To determine

To explain why should review boards contain people who are not scientists.

Explanation of Solution

In the question government regulations require that institutional review boards consist of at least five people including at least one scientist, one non-scientists and one person outside the institution. Thus, the review boards contain people who are not scientists because scientists are more concerned with the feasibility of a regulation or how valuable its results may be. Containing people who are not scientists help bring perspective on how ethical it may be.

(b)

To determine

To explain do you think that one outside member is enough and how would you choose that member.

Answer to Problem 110E

No, we do not think that one outside member is enough.

Explanation of Solution

In the question government regulations require that institutional review boards consist of at least five people including at least one scientist, one non-scientists and one person outside the institution. Thus, we think that one outside member might not be enough to represent all outsiders and they might be biased on a particular topic depending on their experiences, profession or even their religion. And if only one outside member can be chosen then it would be best to choose randomly. This way the chance of a particular perspective being chosen is directly proportional to its abundance in the population.