A new research experiment in Kenya raises questions about ethics

A randomized controlled trial conducted among some of the poorest residents in Nairobi included threatening the disconnection of water and sanitation services if landlords didn’t pay outstanding debts.
The study aimed to understand how to enforce payment for water and sanitation services and resulted in 97 of the 299 compounds selected for the enforcement intervention seeing their water and sewage services cut off — some for up to nine months. This sparked a Twitter-fueled backlash over concerns that marginalized communities lost access to water for the sake of research.
As the authors scrambled to clarify that their study did not increase anyone’s risk of disconnection, the debate resurrected concerns about how to ethically conduct and present research on vulnerable communities, particularly when it involves access to essential services.