Experiments as repugnant transactions (if subjects are paid)

Here's a paper that reports a survey of IRB members on whether payments to experimental subjects are coercive. (The focus was on medical trials...)

MONEY, COERCION, AND UNDUE INDUCEMENT: A SURVEY OF ATTITUDES ABOUT PAYMENTS TO RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
by Emily A. Largent, BSN, Christine Grady, PhD, RN, Franklin G. Miller, PhD, and Alan Wertheimer, PhD, IRB. 2012 Jan-Feb; 34(1): 1–8.

"Nearly all agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that subjects are coerced if they are threatened with harm for not participating (91%). The majority also agreed that participants are coerced if the offer of payment makes them participate when they otherwise would not (65%), or when the offer of payment causes them to feel that they have no reasonable alternative but to participate (82%). Women tended to agree more than men (p = 0.03) that participants are coerced if the payment offer makes them participate when they otherwise would not. No other trends were observed by gender, education, or IRB membership. Most respondents agreed that payment offers are an undue influence if they cause participants to participate when they otherwise would not (81%), if a participant perceives he has no reasonable alternative but to participate (79%), or if the payment offer distorts participants’ evaluation of risks and benefits (98%). "


HT: Debra Satz