ANNEXURE Q - RESEARCH ETHICS APPLICATION FOR NQF 8

RESEARCH REPORTS & UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECTS

The IIE subscribes to the Belmont Report, Singapore Statement, Human Sciences Research Council
(HSRC) and Human Research Ethics Requirements as set out by the South African Department of
Health as guidelines for ethical research practice. These reports highlight the three core principles of
respect for persons, beneficence, and justice as critical when considering ethical clearance or consent.
Carefully consider your request from an ethics perspective before you submit. The Research and
Postgraduate Studies Policy (IIE007) can be found on either the institutional website (external
candidates) or Tertiary Hub (IIE Staff) and provides a clear outline of the ethics position of The IIE. The
IIE’s Campus Research Ethics Committee has the right to withhold any research that is not aligned with
the institutional policies and best practices of ethical research.

1. UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMMES.
The following documents must be submitted to your lecturer for research ethics clearance:
 Research proposal or Research Plan
 Data collection instrument or the Primary or Secondary Research Technique (such data
collection instrument or justification for sources from where document for content analysis will
be sourced from).
 Informed consent forms/ research cover letter that will be shared with participants or
respondents. .
 Annexure G (b) –Research Ethics Consent Application (IIE007) if your data sample are IIE
students, staff, artefacts, or systems.

2. PGDIP PROGRAMMES..
The following documents must be submitted to your lecturer for research ethics clearance:
 Research proposal or Research Plan
 Data collection instrument or Primary or Secondary Research Technique (such data collection
instrument or justification for sources from where document for content analysis will be sourced
from).
 Informed consent forms/ research cover letter that will be shared with participants or
respondents.
 Annexure G (b) –Research Ethics Consent Application (IIE007) if your data sample are IIE
students, staff, artefacts, or systems.

3. 4-YEAR BACHELOR DEGREES; HONOURS, PGDIP IN DATA ANALYTICS, AND PGDIP

HIGHER EDUCATION:
The following documents must be submitted to your supervisor/ lecturer for research ethics clearance:
 Research proposal or Research Plan
 Data collection instrument or research Primary or Secondary Research Technique (such data
collection instrument or justification for sources from where document for content analysis will
be sourced from).
 Informed consent forms/ research cover letter.
 Annexure G (b) –Research Ethics Consent Application (IIE007) if your data sample are IIE
students, staff, artefacts, or systems.

PROCESS FOR NQF8 ETHICS CLEARANCE:

 The supervisor/ lecturer are responsible for ensuring that the student under their supervision
completes Annexure Q and meet the required Research Ethics Clearance requirements as
documented in the IIE007 Policy, Procedure and Criteria and Standards document.
 The supervisor/ lecturer reviews the Research Ethics Clearance application and submit to the
Postgraduate Academic Lead or Postgraduate Programme Coordinator who will issue the
Research Ethics Clearance letter.
 The Research Ethics Clearance letter must be signed by both the Postgraduate Academic Lead
or Postgraduate Programme Coordinator and the supervisor/ lecturer.
 If a supervisor/ lecturer is not comfortable with research ethics application meeting the required
ethical standards of the IIE007 Policy, they may request the Postgraduate Academic Lead or
Postgraduate Programme Coordinator to setup an ad hoc Campus Research Ethics Meeting with
at least two experienced supervisors to review the ethics application and provide an outcome.
 The Postgraduate Academic Lead or Postgraduate Programme Coordinator will ensure that all
annexures and signed letters are uploaded on the Postgraduate Research Tracker.
 It remains the responsibility of the supervisor/ lecturer to ensure that students do not collect
data until they have received their research ethics clearance letter.
Student Details
Title Prof ☐ Dr ☐ Ms ☐ Mrs ☐ Mr ☐ Mx ☐
First name(s)
Last name(s)
Title of study
Qualification
Supervisor Details
Title Prof ☐ Dr ☐ Ms ☐ Mrs ☐ Mr ☐ Mx ☐
First and last
names
Co-supervisor Details (if applicable)
Title Prof ☐ Dr ☐ Ms ☐ Mrs ☐ Mr ☐ Mx ☐
First and last
names
Explaining your research process N/A
Philosophical Positivism ☐ Interpretivism ☐ Constructivism ☐
paradigm Realism ☐ Objectivism ☐ Pragmatism ☐
Functionalist ☐ Subjectivism ☐ Humanist ☐
Other:
Research design: Interview ☐ Questionnaire (self ☐ Focus group ☐
administered)
Ethnography/ ☐ Artefact ☐ Action Research ☐
Observation analysis/website/
social media
analysis
Case Study ☐ Design Research ☐ ☐
(Practice based)
Other (if so, ☐ Click or tap here to enter text.
state)
Ethics N/A
Documentation Gatekeeper’s letter (institutional consent if research done at institutions ☐
submitted with other than IIE)
proposal Completed Annexure G (b) –Research Ethics Consent Application Form ☐
(IIE007) if your data sample are IIE students, staff, artefacts, or systems.
Data Collection Instruments for primary data collection such as interview ☐
schedules, observation sheet, questionnaire, or focus group questions.
Informed Consent Form / Research Cover Letter (applicable for primary ☐
data collection)
 For self-administered questionnaires include informed consent/
cover letter as part of the cover page of the questionnaires
Applicants should apply the below ethical considerations to their research and explain how the ethical areas of consideration will be covered in the
research.
AREA DETAIL RESPONSE PROVIDED BY THE APPLICATION ON EACH OF THE
CATEGORIES.
Provide a In plain language describe what the research is about and
brief what the rationale for conducting this project is.
background
of the Study
and
Introduction
Brief Select the sampling technique to be used and explain N/A
explanation in the next column
of the Purposive ☐ Random ☐ Snowball ☐
participant Convenie ☐ Stratifie ☐ Census …
sample and nt d
population No under 18’s or vulnerable groups allowed.
The rationale for the inclusion and exclusion of participants
must be clear, explicit and reasonable. Clearly indicate the
intended number of participants and the average time they
will be required of them to participate. If vulnerable
participants are to be included, an adequate justification
should be provided; protective safeguards and measures
should be explained. Inclusion and exclusion criteria,
recruitment and the means of getting consent all have
ethical implications (e.g. fairness of selection) over and
above their impact on generalisability and validity.
Briefly Clearly explain how the data will be collected, what is the Methodology:
describe the nature of interaction with participants, how data will be
research captured, how long the anticipated duration of the data
procedures collection would be, etc.

Explain the Briefly describe the method(s) that will be used to collect N/A
data data from participants. If it is through interviews, then
Collection interview questions need to be submitted; if it is through
Instrument survey, the survey questions need to be submitted along
or with the application. If you conduct observational research,
Technique action research or content analysis please explain the
process of collecting data. For desktop studies, justify the
sources from which information will be gathered to answer
the research question. Should you be using any alternative
method of data collection not mentioned, please provide
details on the instrument used or technique to source the
data.
Reimbursem If there are going to be any inducements (including refunds N/A
ents, of costs) for participation these need to be examined for the
inducement impact on the data and procedure.
s & costs for
participants
Participants’ Privacy and confidentiality protecting mechanisms must be N/A
privacy & stated and must be adequate. The means of protecting the
confidentiali data throughout the study and afterwards must be explicitly
ty interests stated. If there are conditions that may result in a
researcher violating confidentiality (such as if abuse is
uncovered) this must be stipulated. POPI provisions must be
explicitly dealt with including consent from an appropriate
person for minors or other vulnerable groups.
Obtaining Detail on how the informed consent will be gained must be N/A
informed made clear including how any risk of pressure or influence
consent will be eliminated. This process must detail what
information is provided to the potential participant and how
it covers all the participant needs to know to make a truly
informed decision. The consent letter must fully align to the
information detailed in the proposal in relation to consent. It
must include details about how the data is being stored and
what methods are to be used such as recording.

If you collect data through a self-administered questionnaire

(such as Google Forms, MS Forms, Survey Monkey, etc.) it’s
important to include the informed consent letter/ cover letter
as part of the questionnaire on Page 1 with a tick box. Once
the respondent selects the textbox, they can complete the
questionnaire. Also ensure that you include screening that
aligns with your target sample selection as indicated earlier.
Declaration by the Student
1. All the statements made by myself in this application are true and accurate.
2. I am bound by the requirements of ethical and sound research practices.
3. I will obtain informed consent in writing from all participants after disclosing all the
information that would be needed to give this consent.
4. I will only use this data for these research purposes and in no other way.
5. I will protect the anonymity, confidentiality and privacy of participants and associated
institutions or structures.
6. I will only use recording methods (written, audio, video) consented to and in the manner
consented to.
7. I will meet all conditions set and not proceed until I have authorisation to do so.
X Click or tap to enter
a date.
X
Signature of the Student Date
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Supervisor’s Recommendation to the Campus Ethics Committee:

Proposal has been reviewed by the supervisor and necessary ethics considerations have been
included.
Accepted with no conditions.

Accepted with conditions:

Provide the nature of the condition that the student needs to consider:
e.g. Instrument is not sufficient / included and need to be

Ethics Clearance Withheld: Student is not allowed to commence with data collection.
Provide the reason for withholding the ethics approval and provide the necessary action points that
the student needs to consider for the resubmission for ethics clearance.
Click or tap here to enter text.
Notes from the Supervisor
Signature and date

Notes from Postgraduate Academic Lead or Postgraduate Programme Coordinator

Signature and date