Study Unit 4: Ethics in research

Question 1

what are ethics

Answer 1

Ethics is that which is morally justifiable

research ethics, fundamentally, consist of collecting, analysing and interpreting data in a way that respects the rights of our participants and respondents.

Question 2

list situational factors regarding ethics in research

Answer 2

1. the methods that we use to collect, analyse and report research
2. the purpose or goal of the research (eg to formulate new theories or to solve a social problem)
3. the personal motives or intentions of the individual researcher (eg to advance a career, which may be unrelated to the purpose of the research)
4. the consequences or effects of research, including effects on research participants or respondents, on researchers and on the larger social and scholarly communities

Question 3

provide the six behavioural norms

Answer 3

Universalism — This norm requires that our research must pass peer evaluation; our peers must be allowed to judge whether the research is in line with previously accepted methods, thinking and knowledge on the subject.

Communality — This norm requires researchers to accurately report the methods, purpose, motives and consequences. “The principle of communality compels all researchers to share their research findings, including means, ends, motives, and consequences, freely and honestly with all other members of the research community

Disinterestedness — This norm requires that personal gain should not be a researcher’s main (or only) reason for doing research

Organised skepticism — This norm requires researchers to be critical of their own and others’ research and to be honest when they spot errors, omissions and subjective biases

Honesty — This norm requires researchers to be honest with themselves, with the subjects or participants involved in the research and with the research community

Respect — This norm requires researchers to protect subjects’ or participants’ basic human and civil rights.

Question 4

discuss the three ethical issues (do no harm; obtaining consent; and ensuring privacy)

Answer 4

Do no harm
include anything from physical discomfort to emotional stress, humiliation or embarrassment

Obtaining consent
Direct consent must be obtained from the people who will be involved in the research personally. Substitute consent (or third-party consent) is obtained from someone who is not personally involved. Substitute consent is usually required when the actual persons concerned do not have the cognitive or emotional capacity to give consent, such as young children or people who are mentally retarded.

Ensuring privacy

1. the sensitivity of the information
2. the place where the research is conducted
3. how public we are going to make our research findings

Question 5

what are the three requirements consent has to meet

Answer 5

Person’s ability
person must have the cognitive capacity to understand and evaluate the information about the intended research, in order to make an informed decision.

Voluntariness
each individual must have the ability and the right to choose whether or not to participate in research. Nobody must be forced, deceived, threatened or subjected to any form of coercion.

Information
responsibility to ensure that our descriptions of what the research entails contains all the relevant details and can easily be understood by potential participants

Question 6

what is the Hawthorne

effect

Answer 6

the effect on participants of knowing that they are being “researched

Question 7

discuss the ethical issues related to research approaches

Answer 7

Experimental research, as an example of quantitative research, involves unique ethical issues because researchers manipulate an experimental variable. This means that certain participants receive a particular treatment

Consent and privacy create major challenges for researchers who use qualitative methods

Question 8

what practises can be regarded as unethical

Answer 8

ƒdeception about the true purpose of the interview
ƒ ƒasking leading questions
ƒ ƒmaking taped recordings of responses without the participant’s/s’ prior consent

Question 9

what are the ethical issues related to a professional researcher

Answer 9

absolutism:
a researcher may never tell a lie

antinomianism: a researcher need not observe moral laws
integrity: honesty and trustworthiness

Question 10

list some ethical issues related to the research process

Answer 10

Choice of research topic (problem or issue):

Sampling:

Selection of an appropriate method

Treatment of respondents or participants

Treatment of data

Development and application of measuring instruments

Political and other organisational constraints

Personal constraints:

Interpretation of data and reporting findings