Conclusion

Protecting human subjects is an extremely important aspect of all research activities. As your program provides services to and for victims of crime, ethical concerns regarding the protection of human subjects bear even more significantly on your research activities. In light of these concerns, you may decide it is in your best interest to hire a local evaluator with the appropriate experience to conduct the evaluation. For more information, see the Guide to Hiring a Local Evaluator, included in this series. Should you choose not to hire a local evaluator, you should make one person in your initiative responsible for handling the evaluation. Advise the evaluator and research staff to use this guide as a general reference for how to protect the human subjects in your research activities.