Ethical considerations in research

1.

E T H I C A L C O N S I D E R AT I O N S I N
RESEARCH

2.

ETHICAL
C O N S I D E R AT I O N S
Ethical considerations in
research are a set of principles
that guide your research
designs and practices.
Scientists and researchers
must always adhere to a
certain code of conduct when
collecting data from people.

3.

THESE
C O N S I D E R AT I
ONS WORK
TO:
1
2
protect the rights
of research
participants
enhance research
validity
3
maintain
scientific
integrity

4.

WHY DO
RESEARCH
E T H I C S M AT T E R ?
Research ethics matter for
scientific integrity, human
rights and dignity, and
collaboration between science
and society. These principles
make sure that participation in
studies is voluntary, informed,
and safe for research
subjects.

5.

PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH
ETHICS
There are a number of ethical principles that should be taken into account when
performing undergraduate and master's level dissertation research. In practice,
ethical principles mean that as a researcher, you need to:
obtain informed consent from potential research participants;
minimise the risk of harm to participants;
protect their anonymity and confidentiality;
avoid using deceptive practices;
and give participants the right to withdraw from your research.

6.

ETHICAL ISSUE
An ethical issue is a circumstance in which a moral
conflict arises in the workplace; thus, it is a situation in which
a moral standard is being challenged. Ethical issues in the
workplace occur when a moral dilemma emerges and must
be resolved within a corporation.
include understanding real life phenomena, studying
effective treatments, investigating behaviors, and improving
lives in other ways. What you decide to research and how
you conduct that research involve key ethical considerations.
This presentation mainly focuses on research ethics in
human research, but ethical considerations are also
important in animal research.

7.

TYPES OF ETHICAL ISSUES
There are several ethical issues you should always
pay attention to in your research design, and these issues
can overlap with each other.
You’ll usually outline ways you’ll deal with each
issue in your research proposal if you plan to collect data
from participants.

8.

INFORMED CONSENT
Informed consent refers to a situation in which all potential participants receive and understand all the information they need to decide whether
they want to participate. This includes information about the study’s benefits, risks, funding, and institutional approval.
Example of informed consent
You recruit participants outside a train station for a quick survey. You make sure to provide all potential participants with all the relevant information about.
What the study is:
about the risks and benefits of taking part
how long the study will take
your supervisor’s contact information and the institution’s approval number.
You also let them know that their data will be kept confidential, and they are free to stop filling in the survey at any point for any reason. They can
also withdraw their information by contacting you or your supervisor.
Usually, you’ll provide participants with a text for them to read and ask them if they have any questions. If they agree to participate, they can sign
or initial the consent form. Note that this may not be sufficient for informed consent when you work with particularly vulnerable groups of people. If you’re
collecting data from people with low literacy, make sure to verbally explain the consent form to them before they agree to participate.
For participants with very limited English proficiency, you should always translate the study materials or work with an interpreter so they have all
the information in their first language.
In research with children, you’ll often need informed permission for their participation from their parents or guardians. Although children cannot
give informed consent, it’s best to also ask for their assent (agreement) to participate, depending on their age and maturity level.

9.

R E S E A R C H E R - PA R T I C I PA N T
R E L AT I O N S H I P
The relationship between researcher and participant is crucial in research.
The quality of the data is in many ways dependent upon the relationship between the researcher and the participant. The
closer the researcher gets to his participants, the richer and more authentic the data he gets. Hence, researchers strive to get
close as they possibly can to their participants. There are, however, moments when a researcher may be confronted with the
tension between getting rich data and trespassing into a participant’s private sphere, which Logstrup (1997) calls the zone of the
untouchable. How to respond to such situations is a dilemma to the researcher, one that is not easy to solve, especially when
the participant is a minor or has a mental disability, when there are several people present during the interview (e.g., research
team members, translators), when the interview setting does not ensure privacy, or when the researcher himself or herself is
caught off guard or lacks training. Handling such situations may call for alternative options which can be drawn from research
ethical codes and practices and from the framework of ethical mindfulness (Guillemin & Heggen, 2009).
Underpinned by Communicative Ethics of Haberma (1992), the concept of “reciprocity” is crucial in a researcherparticipant relationship. Researchers must ensure that both the researcher and the participant mutually benefit from the scholarly
exchange. Mutual benefit calls for a win-win approach that is expected to result to an equitable amount of giving and taking.
To establish a positive and respectful relationship between the researcher and the participant, cultural diversity is an
important factor that must be taken into consideration. In fact, cultural sensitivity is expected to increase the study’s
trustworthiness.

10.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Confidentiality means that you know who the participants are, but you remove all identifying information from your report.
All participants have a right to privacy, so you should protect their personal data for as long as you store or use it. Even when
you can’t collect data anonymously, you should secure confidentiality whenever you can.
Example of confidentiality
To keep your data confidential, you take steps to safeguard it and prevent any threats to data privacy. You store all signed
consent forms in a locked file drawer, and you password-protect all files with survey data.
Only other researchers approved by the IRB are allowed to access the study data, and you make sure that everyone knows
and follows your institution’s data privacy protocols.
Some research designs aren’t conducive to confidentiality, but it’s important to make all attempts and inform participants of
the risks involved.
Example of focus group confidentiality
In a focus group study, you invite five people to give their opinions on a new student service in a group setting.
Before beginning the study, you ask everyone to agree to keep what’s discussed confidential and to respect each other’s
privacy. You also note that you cannot completely guarantee confidentiality or anonymity so that participants are aware of the risks
involved.

11.

P R O T E C T I O N O F PA R T I C I PA N T S
Researchers must ensure that those taking part in research will
not be caused distress. They must be protected from physical and
mental harm.
This means you must not embarrass, frighten, offend or harm
participants. Normally, the risk of harm must be no greater than in
ordinary life, i.e. participants should not be exposed to risks greater
than or additional to those encountered in their normal lifestyles.
The researcher must also ensure that if vulnerable groups are
to be used (elderly, disabled, children, etc.), they must receive special
care. For example, if studying children, make sure their participation
is brief as they get tired easily and have a limited attention span.
Researchers are not always accurately able to predict the risks
of taking part in a study and in some cases, a therapeutic debriefing
may be necessary if participants have become disturbed during the
research

12.

ANONYMITY
Anonymity means that you don’t know who the participants are and you can’t link any individual participant to their data.
You can only guarantee anonymity by not collecting any personally identifying information—for example, names, phone
numbers, email addresses, IP addresses, physical characteristics, photos, and videos.
In many cases, it may be impossible to truly anonymize data collection. For example, data collected in person or by phone
cannot be considered fully anonymous because some personal identifiers (demographic information or phone numbers) are impossible
to hide.
You’ll also need to collect some identifying information if you give your participants the option to withdraw their data at a later
stage.
Data pseudonymization is an alternative method where you replace identifying information about participants with
pseudonymous, or fake, identifiers. The data can still be linked to participants but it’s harder to do so because you separate personal
information from the study data
Example of data pseudonymization
You’re conducting a survey with college students. You ask participants to enter demographic information including their age,
gender, nationality, and ethnicity. With all this information, it may be possible for other people to identify individual participants, so you
pseudonymize the data.
Each participant is given a random three-digit number. You separate their personally identifying information from their survey
data and include the participant numbers in both files. The survey data can only be linked to personally identifying data via the
participant numbers.

13.

D O C U M E N TA R Y R E S E A R C H
Research that uses personal and official documents as a
source material. Documents used by social scientists
may include such things as newspapers, diaries, stamps,
directories, handbills, maps, government statistical
publications, photographs, paintings, gramophone
records, tapes, and computer files.

14.

D O C U M E N TA R Y R E S E
ARCH
The most important consideration in
using documents is their quality as
evidence on social meanings and
social relations. Unlike survey
questionnaires or interview transcripts,
documents have generally been
compiled for purposes other than
research, and their value must be
thoroughly assessed before they can
be used.

15.

APPRAISING DOCUMENTS INCLUDES FOUR
CRITERIA:
Authenticity
Credibility
Representativeness
Meaning

16.

RESEARCHERS CONDUCT RESEARCH
T H AT I S R E L I A B L E , VA L I D A N D
L E G I T I M AT E
In research, reliability describes the degree that the results of a given study can be repeated or replicated under the
same conditions. A study with high reliability is one that has consistent results each time it is conducted. Furthermore, reliability is
one way that we can determine whether to trust the results of the study. A study with inconsistent results, where the result is
different each time the study is completed, indicates that the study has low reliability and isn't very useful.
There are several ways a research study can be reliable. Research can be reliable across time, which describes a study
that has consistent results when the same researcher repeats it at a different point in time. For example, a researcher shows that
writing in a gratitude journal every morning for a month leads to higher life satisfaction in college students. If the same researcher
repeats the study the next year and gets the same result, the research study is reliable across time.
Furthermore, research can be reliable across samples. This type of reliability describes consistency of measurements
within a study. There are a few ways to evaluate reliability across samples, including splitting the sample group measurements
into two groups and comparing them. Researchers can also compare several data points within a measurement or assessment
that should correlate to see how they compare. These specific methods will be further discussed in a subsequent section.
Additionally, inter-rater reliability can be evaluated by having a different researcher complete the same study.
Reliability is one way to determine the quality of a research study. Showing that research is reliable across time and
reliable across samples gives credibility to the findings. A clear understanding of the reliability definition in research gives study
readers the ability to determine how much to trust the results of the study.

17.

Like reliability, validity is a way to assess the quality of a research study. Validity describes the
degree to which the results actually measure what they are intended to measure. The validity of a study
refers to the study's accuracy. Does a study that is intended to measure a group of people's anxiety actually
measure that group's anxiety? Or instead, does that study measure the group's mood? To continue our first
example, does the study measuring college student's life satisfaction actually measure life satisfaction?
Ensuring that is the case adds to the study's validity.
To have useful and quality research, both reliability and validity must be considered. Validity and
reliability in research are distinct, but related concepts. Reliability refers to a study's replicability, while validity
refers to a study's accuracy. A study can be repeated many times and give the same result each time, and
yet the result could be wrong or inaccurate. This study would have high reliability, but low validity; and
therefore, conclusions can't be drawn from it. Consider a thermometer that gives three repeated temperature
readings of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, but the actual temperature of the oven is 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The
temperature readings are reliable, but not valid. To summarize the relationship between validity and reliability
in research, a study can be reliable without being valid. But, if a study is valid, it is also often reliable.
Legitimate means being in conformance with law, social morays, cultural imperatives or ideological
expectations. Legitimation is a process through which a social system or some aspect of it comes to be
accepted as appropriate and generally supported by those who participate in it. In social research legitimate
means conforming to law, accepted norms, values or standards. It implies a degree of authenticity.

18.

ENSURING RELIABILITY AND
VA L I D I T Y I N R E S E A R C H
There are various ways that a researcher can ensure reliability and validity in their studies.
To increase reliability, researchers should apply methods carefully and consistently, and
standardize the procedures of the study. If multiple researchers are conducting a study, the
methods must be clearly outlined to each researcher so the study is consistently performed.
When more than one researcher is conducting interviews or observations of study participants, it
is important that their assessments are standardized to avoid bias. Keeping the conditions as
uniform as possible will lead to decreased variation, and higher reproducibility of the results.
There are several ways to add to validity in research. Using high quality and specific
methods of measurement is important. Methods of assessment or measurement that have been
shown to be effective in previous studies should be considered, as there's a higher likelihood that
those methods will measure what researchers intend to measure. The study samples should be
carefully chosen, making sure there are enough samples and that they're from a clearly defined
group. A study of only five people, for instance, will not provide as convincing results as a study
of 5,000 people.