Ethical Standards and Procedures in Research PDF

ETHICAL STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES IN RESEARCH  PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH ETHICS  PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH ETHICS Generally speaking, your research should not only aim to do good, but it should also avoid doing any harm. While ethical standards in...

ETHICAL STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES IN RESEARCH  PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH ETHICS  PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH ETHICS Generally speaking, your research should not only aim to do good, but it should also avoid doing any harm. While ethical standards in research may vary across situations and contexts, these are the basic principles of research ethics. They are crucial not just for ethical reasons, but also for practical ones. If you fail to meet these basic principles, it could lead to your research being criticized, potentially leading to a lower mark. Your research could also be rejected by your teacher or mentor, making you lose time that should have been used for data gathering on revisions or, at worst, a complete overhaul of your research plans. FIVE MAJOR PRINCIPLES  1- MINIMIZING THE RISK OF HARM Your research should not harm the participants in any way. If there is a possibility that your participants could get hurt or be otherwise put in an uncomfortable situation, you should be prepared to justify this convincingly. If this is the case for your research, additional planning is required to illustrate how you aim to reduce participant harm or discomfort as much as possible. You must also have informed consent and detailed debriefing.  1- MINIMIZING THE RISK OF HARM The types of harm that participants could become exposed to in research include, but are not limited to, the following: Physical harm - bleeding, injury, assault, etc. Psychological distress - stressful situations, insults, deception, etc. Social disadvantage - spreading misinformation, abuse of power, etc. Financial harm - loss of money or possessions Invasion of privacy - breaking confidentiality, revealing personal information  1- MINIMIZING THE RISK OF HARM In order to reduce the risk of harm, consider the following: Obtain informed consent from the participants Protect their anonymity and confidentiality Avoid deceptive practices in your research Give participants the right to withdraw from your research at any time  2 - OBTAINING INFORMED CONSENT Simply put, informed consent means that participants should be fully aware that they are taking part in research and know what the research requires of them. Ensure that they are informed of the purpose of the research, the methods being used, the possible outcomes of the research, as well as the demands, discomforts, inconveniences, and risks that the participants may face during the research. While it is not possible to accurately know the exact information a potential participant would or would not want to know, you should aim not to leave out any material information that could influence whether the participants will give their consent or not.  2 - OBTAINING INFORMED CONSENT Another important part of informed consent is the idea that participants should be volunteers, meaning they are taking part in the research without being forced, coerced, or tricked into participating.  3 - PROTECTING ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY Normally, participants will only be willing to provide you with information, especially personal or sensitive information, if you agree to hold their information in confidence. While there is a risk that research participants may be hurt in some way, depending on the research methods, there is perhaps a greater danger that the collected data can cause harm as well. This could happen when data is not treated confidentially, whether it be in how the data is stored, how it is analyzed, or how it is handled during the publication process. Anonymity must also be protected in the sense that the participants must not in any way be connected to their answers. Readers of your paper must not be able to trace what was said in your paper back to a participant.  3 - PROTECTING ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY However, this does not mean that all of the data collected from your participants must be strictly kept confidential. It is possible to reveal certain information on the participants, even the more personal pieces of information, during any research process, from data gathering to publication. However, what should be strictly followed is that, if certain personal or sensitive information from the participants must be revealed or published, you, as the researcher, must always ask for the participants' permission. Should the participants decline to give permission, you must respect their decision and continue to keep their information confidential.  3 - PROTECTING ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY TIPS An alternative that you can consider using is to remove identifiers (names, vernacular terms, geographical identifiers, etc.) or provide proxies when writing about the participants. The challenge is that you must be ready to anticipate if you will need to use this technique or not, and you must be careful and consistent in your paper when you do so.  4 - AVOIDING DECEPTIVE PRACTICES It is clear to see that deceptive practices fly in the face of informed consent. After all, how can participants know that they are taking part in research and what that research needs from them if they are being deceived? That is why deceptive practices are often frowned upon and avoided in research. However, there are a few instances where some form of deception is necessary for the research.  4 - AVOIDING DECEPTIVE PRACTICES Deception is sometimes a required component of covert research, which can be justified in some cases. Covert research is research where the identity of the observer and/or the purpose of the research is not made known to the participants. There are two cases where you may choose to engage in covert research: It is not possible to let everyone in a certain research setting know what you are doing. Knowing the purpose of the research or that research is being conducted might alter the responses of the participants.  5 - PROVIDING THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW Aside from covert observation, where it is not feasible to let everyone who is being observed know what you are doing, your research participants should always have the right to withdraw from the research process. They should be made aware of this from the very beginning. Furthermore, participants should know that they can withdraw at any stage of the research process. Should a participant choose to withdraw from the research process, you should not pressure or coerce them in any way to try and stop them from withdrawing. PRINCIPLES APPLIED IN SPECIFIC SCENARIOS  PRINCIPLES APPLIED IN SPECIFIC SCENARIOS There are times when these ethical principles are further modified, usually with additional rules or clauses, to accommodate special participants.  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN In terms of procedure, it should go without saying that your research and data gathering must also avoid harming the participants, especially since the participants are children and minors. With minors, the most stress- free research method should be followed to make sure that they also do not experience any kind of psychological or emotional harm. If harm seems unavoidable, you, as the researcher, are obligated to either find other means of gathering data or abandon the research altogether.  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN In terms of consent, it is just as important to get the consent of the minors whom you want to participate in the data gathering. They must also be informed of all of the procedures and the purpose of the research, in a manner that they can understand. This is standard procedure for any participant, but what differs with minors is that you must also explain the research to and get the consent of their parents or guardians. They must also have a good understanding of the research and what it entails for their children. There are also instances when a child cannot give their consent on their own, as is the case with infants or toddlers, and so the consent must come from their parent or guardian who is fully aware and briefed about the research.  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN When information from the research that could potentially jeopardize the child's health and well-being comes to your attention, it is your responsibility as the researcher to discuss these findings with the parents or guardians of the child in question. If it is not a major concern, then perhaps it could be discussed with the minor first before bringing it up with the parents in order to preserve the confidentiality of the participant. However, if you judge it to be an extreme case, like if the child's life were in peril, then it could be discussed with the parents, guardians, or concerned authorities.  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN Remember The general principles very much still apply to minors. Along with the information mentioned above, it is advisable to exercise additional caution when dealing with minors, especially young children.  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH When you are conducting research with participants from a different culture, you must also be extra careful with your ethics. This is especially true for people who come from ethnic groups. If your research includes participants from ethnic groups, such as the Aeta or the Ifugao, you must keep in mind that their ideas of what is ethical might be different from yours. Most, if not all, ethnic groups have their own self-created identities and culture, which is why their ideas might vary from yours.  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH Knowing that ethnic groups could have different definitions of ethics, it might be difficult to establish consent and anonymity. Researchers must understand the ethnic group's own ideas of ethics and refine and modify the principles so that they satisfy both parties. Most of the general principles still apply, but these must be defined and explained to the participants, and you should be open to constant adjustments to these principles as you get to know the ethnic group that you are asking to participate in your research.  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH You should also remember to explain your research carefully and in a way that the ethnic group can understand. It should also respect their culture and belief system, which is why understanding them is important for you as a researcher. Talking to and asking an ethnic group to participate in your research is not the same as asking a group of students from your school.  ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH In relation to culture, you must also keep in mind that your research goals and procedures should not be harmful not only to the participants and their well- being but also to their culture. Their culture and beliefs must be respected and protected throughout the research process. The research must also avoid hurting in any way the identity of the group you are studying. Information you did not think would be personal or sensitive in the case of university students might be important or sensitive information for members of an ethnic group. For example, their geographical location could be something that must not be made known to a more general public, or they follow a strict diet that cannot be changed even for the sake of research. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!