An African Perspective of Benefits in Social Science Research

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the African perspective of benefits in Social Science research with the aim of defining benefit sharing, describing benefits as a social construct and explaining how benefits are constructed in communities. Also discussed is the importance of weighing risks and benefits for avoidance of exploitation of participants. Benefits are discussed at different levels to show that the concept is fluid and is determined by geographical location, needs and group dynamics. Benefit sharing in research is an ongoing concern in developing countries. Foreign researchers sometimes conduct “helicopter” research in Africa to address their research agenda in communities without assurance of benefits. This oversight by these researchers has previously led to suspicion and mistrust. This chapter has been written based on collective experiences in collaborative research in low-income countries, class discussions in health research ethics and related desktop review of literature. The ensuing discussion reveals that the perception of benefits varies at individual, institutional, community level, participants’ and researchers’ perspectives. The chapter has been guided by the social construction process which views benefits as a social construct. The fact that benefits is a construct brings afore the need for researchers to respect community values, circumstances, culture, social practices and that fair benefits accrue to host communities. To deal with the challenge of benefit sharing, a benefit sharing conceptualisation model has been proposed to guide researchers in identification and prioritisation of benefits for trust and acceptability.