Ethics in ResearchPROFESSIONAL:

ReportingCredits

Plagiarism

DATA Gathering :Voluntary participationInformed ConsentNo HarmPAC- Privacy, Anonymity,

Confidentiality

Values

Ethics –moral principles of right and wrong–not absolute; may vary by person, by time, by

place– and may be in competition with each other

Research ethics– incorporating ethical principles into research

practice–may involve a balance between and within

principles and practices– all stages, all those involved, from inception of

research through to completion and publication of results and beyond

History

• 1947- Noremberg Code

• 1968- Helsinki Declaration

• 1979- Belmont Report

• 1993- CIOMS

• 2005- UNESCO

Economic and Social Research Council, UK - Guidelines

1. Research should be designed, reviewed and undertaken to ensure integrity and quality

2. Research staff and subjects must be informed fully about the purpose, methods and intended possible uses of the research, what their participation in the research entails and what risks if any, are involved. Exceptionally, some variation may be acceptable

3. The confidentiality of information supplied by research subjects and the anonymity of respondents must be respected.

ESRC Guidelines-2

4. Research participants must participate in a voluntary way, free from any coercion.Exceptionally, covert research and deception may be acceptable.

5. Harm to participants must be avoided.avoidance of harm extends to family, kin, communitygroups should not be unreasonably excluded from researchexceptionally, some limited short term and minimal harm may be acceptable

6 The independence of the research must be clear; any conflicts of interest or partiality must be explicit.

Risks in Research (ESRC UK)

• In social science research risks are diverseNot only - potential physical or psychological harm;

discomfort or stress But also disruption or damage to e.g.

a subject’s rights and dignity a subject’s personal social standing individual privacypersonal values and beliefs a subject’s links to family and wider community a subject’s occupational status or position implications of revealing illegal, sexual or deviant

behaviour…. as individuals, as whole communities, or

categories of people

Ethical Principles in Social Sciences

• Voluntary Participation (Informed consent-Components, deception – procedures)

• No harm to the subjects - Non-maleficence - Do no harm (commission or omission) minimize harm

• PAC: PRIVACY, ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY

• Beneficence - promotion of well being (maximize benefit)

• Autonomy - make own decisions

• Integrity

Voluntary Participation

• Subjects must agree to reveal information about themselves.

• Subjects must be able to provide informed consent.

• Behavior observed in public settings is assumed to imply agreement to being observed.

• Subjects contacted after being observed in a public setting must be informed they were observed in a public setting.

No Harm…

• Subjects must be free from reasonably anticipated physical or emotional harm.

• Subjects must be informed of the manifest content of the information they will be asked to reveal about themselves.

• It is permissible to deceive subjects, as long as the deception cannot be anticipated to create physical or emotional harm.

Informed Consent means…..

• Purpose of study.

• How respondent was selected.

• Results will be used for research and [other].

• Voluntary participation in the study or any part of it.

• Respondent can keep any incentives if they withdraw from the study.

• Confidentiality of responses.

• Contact information of the researcher.

Legitimizing the risks when…..

Research which is deliberately opposed to the interests of the research subjects– E.g.- studies of power or inequality

– aim to reveal and critique economic, political, or cultural disadvantage

– may have negative impact on some subjects

Research which balances short-term risks to subjects against longer terms gains to beneficiaries

Covert Research

must not be undertaken lightly or routinely – only as a last resort but may be justified

where it provides unique forms of evidence where overt observation might alter the

phenomenon being studied if important or significant issues are being

addressed, and matters of social significance are being discovered which cannot be uncovered in other ways

where there might be risks for participant or researcher.

Would always require full review by R.E.C.

Areas of Academic misconduct

1. Plagiarism

2. Fabrication and falsification

3. Non-publication of data

4. Faulty data-gathering procedures

5. Poor data storage and retention

6. Misleading authorship

7. Sneaky publication practices

Non-Publication of data

• Sometimes called “cooking data”

• Data not included in results because they don’t support the desired outcome

• Some data are “bad” data

• Bad data should be recognized while it is being collected or analyzed

• Outlier – unrepresentative score; a score that lies outside of the normal scores

• How should outliers be handled?

Data Gathering

• Collecting data from participants who are not complying with requirements of the study

• Using faulty equipment• Treating participants inappropriately• Recording data incorrectly• Most important and most aggravating.• Always drop non-compliers.• Fix broken equipment.• Treat subjects with respect and dignity.• Record data accurately.• Store data in a safe and private place for 3 years.

Authorship…Misleading authorship—who should be an author?– Technicians do not necessarily become joint authors.– Authorship should involve only those who contribute

directly.– Discuss authorship before the project!

• Publication of the thesis or dissertation– Should be regarded as the student’s work

– Committee chair and members may be listed as secondary authors

• Dual publication – a manuscript should only be published in a single journal– What about studies which include a huge amount of data?

Research Implications

• protocol

• undertaking study

• interpretation

• making recommendations

• presenting your findings