Research Ethics
Definition of ethics
• A moral principle or code of conduct that regulate the action of a
person or group of people (Hammond & Wellington, 2020).
• “A matter of principled sensitivity to the rights of others” (Cavan,
1997, retrieved from Cohen, Manion, Morrison, 2018)
• A discipline focused on studying which actions are good or bad,
or right or wrong based on a set of morals. (Singer, 2022)
Ethics in Educational Research
A large majority of educational research use people as respondents
in finding best practices in the field. This involvement of people
calls for an adherence of research procedures to the existing laws
that protects the rights of said respondents and the responsibilities
of research practitioners.
Principles of ethical conduct
The American Educational Research Association (AERA, 2011) laid out
five principles for educational researchers to follow to “exemplify the
highest ideals of professional conduct”. These principles are:
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Professional Competence
Integrity
Professional, Scientific, and Scholarly Responsibility
Respect for People’s Rights, Dignity, and Diversity
Social Responsibility
Professional competence
This principle governs researchers’ action through acknowledging the
limits of their expertise, doing their work with competence, and only
accepting tasks when their skills, talent, education, training, and
experience allow them to. Further, researchers must continually strive for
professional development and utilization of administrative, scientific,
scholarly, technical, and professional tools to ensure competence in their
craft. This includes collaborating with other researchers for the benefit of
stakeholders.
Integrity
Researchers must embody honesty and fairness in their practice
whether it be in research, teaching, or related activities. They must
also act with no ill-intent towards the well-being of their peers,
respondents, or other personnel.
Professional, Scientific, and Scholarly Responsibility
Researches must observe the highest standards in their studies and be
accounted for with their work. They must also be aware of the conduct of
others in their field, especially questionable actions and practices, to selfregulate the space through peer-review and evaluation. Additionally,
researchers must uphold objectivity in their community even if differences in
“theoretical, methodological, or personal approaches to professional activities”
are present (AERA, 2011). Lastly, their personal endeavors should not
jeopardize their part of maintaining community ethical standards.
Respect for People’s Rights, Dignity, and Diversity
Researches must do no harm to their participants’ sense of worth, rights,
and dignity; and acknowledge their roles and responsibilities in
protecting these. Researchers must also be sensitive to the differences
among culture, identity, and role differences in interacting with groups of
people with diverse characteristics. Any personal bias towards gender,
socioeconomic status, sex, creed, race, and other characteristics must
also be purged as researchers must treat everyone, even those they
disagree with, with dignity and respect.
Social Responsibility
Researchers must fulfill their societal and scientific role in the
community they belong, and apply their findings for the benefit not
only of their community but to the public.
Concerning Practices in educational research
Hammond & Wellington (2020) argued that ethical questions could arise
if:
• The research design would treat an individual or group in an unfair,
unrewarding, or mistreated manner such as when conducting an
experimental research.
• The methods proposed involve withholding information to respondents
or other relevant stakeholders; or if consent is forced.
Concerning Practices in educational research
• The analysis of data deliberately ignores selected parts of a result or
observation that do not fit the research’s hypothesis.
• The presentation or report of the research shows disrespect, breaches
confidentiality, or portrays individuals or groups in a negative light or
derogatory language.
• The conclusions of the study does not reflect the or goes beyond the
data gathered; but rather push the researcher’s own narrative.
Ethical Considerations Prior to the Study
Creswell & Creswell (2018) listed several considerations to ensure studies are
done ethically.
1. Consider codes of ethics. Researchers should first consult if their nation or
any legislative body enacts a code of ethics in the field of study. For
teachers, one could read on the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers.
DepEd (Department of Education, Philippines) has also released a
memorandum on the guidelines for ethical research concerning their
stakeholders.
Ethical Considerations Prior to the Study
2. Apply to the institutional review board. Universities, especially
recognized ones, have an ethics committee or institutional
review boards that evaluate research proposals on their ethical
merits or demerits. According to Sieber (1998, retrieved from
Creswell & Creswell, 2018), these bodies require researchers to
“assess the potential for risk to participants in a study, such as
physical, psychological, social, economic, or legal harm”.
Ethical Considerations Prior to the Study
It is also noted that respondents with special needs and
circumstances such as minors, with disabilities, pregnant, victims of
crimes, or the like should be given special considerations especially
since the risks of the study could severely affect their lives. Further,
the researcher would need to explain, in writing or reporting or
both, to the body about the procedures and information involved in
the proposed research,
Ethical Considerations Prior to the Study
An informed consent form containing provisions on the data
needed from the respondents and procedures relating to said data
must also be provided by the researchers and agreed upon by the
respondents before the study.
Contents of Informed consent form
Sarantakos (2005, retrieved from Creswell & Creswell, 2018)
enumerated the contents of the consent form which are:
• Identification of the researcher, sponsoring institution
• Identification of the purpose of the study and its benefit to the
respondents
• Level and type of participation required from the respondents and the
risks they entail
• Guarantee of confidentiality to the participants
• Assurance that the respondents could withdraw from the study anytime
• Contact details of focal persons in case of further questions
Ethical Considerations Prior to the Study
3. Obtain necessary permission. Researchers need to ask for
permission to access their desired respondents through persons
of authority. For example, if the respondents of a study are
university students, then the researches would have to ask for
permission from the university president or similar persons with
authority. In using online tools or surveys, a consent form and
permission slip should preface the survey body itself.
Ethical Considerations Prior to the Study
4. Select a site without vested interests. Researches that would
gain financial, social, physical, or other types of benefits from an
specific outcome of a study represents a conflict of interest and
harms the objectivity of the results. Hence, it is ethically correct
to perform a study that would strengthen the “objectivity
required for quantitative research, or the full expression of
multiple perspectives needed in qualitative research”.
Ethical Considerations Prior to the Study
5. Negotiate authorship of publication. Some studies are written by
various authors with diverse levels of contribution to the study.
The order of authors in a study shows a descending level of
contribution, hence it must be negotiated early on; questions
such as “who is in charge?” or “who should be the lead writer”
must be answered and agreed upon. This ordering must also
not be used as a “gift” to be use as quid-pro-quo.
Ethical Considerations at the start of the study
• Identify a beneficial research problem. The possible benefits and
contributions of the study to the respondents must be a prime
consideration in doing the study (Punch, 2014, retrieved from Creswell
& Creswell, 2018). It is also advised to establish trust and respect with
respondents through pilot studies, needs assessment, and informal
interviews to identify possible respondent marginalization problems
during the study (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Ethical Considerations at the start of the study
• Disclose purpose of study. Participants must be informed by the
researchers on the intents of the study and what they want to
accomplish. It is unethical to purposefully deceive the respondents
on the aims of one’s study. In this regards, sponsorships by
known entities are recommended to establish trust and credibility,
especially on online surveys.
Ethical Considerations at the start of the study
• Do not pressure participants into signing consent forms. It is
research malpractice to force, coerce, or maliciously manipulate
respondents into signing consent forms as their inclusion in the
study must be voluntary. Aside from ethical concerns, forcing
respondents also opens your study to other problems concerning
validity.
Ethical Considerations at the start of the study
• Respect norms and charters of indigenous cultures. In studying
indigenous groups with distinct cultural, gender, or religious
characteristics , researchers must acquaint themselves with the
norms, practices, views, and existing rules that these groups
follow so as to not disrespect and disrupt them.
Ethical Considerations in collecting data
• Respect the site and disrupt as little as possible. Researches
should be insightful in the effects of their data gathering methods.
As an example, they might want to consult people with authority
or expertise within the respondents’ groups to determine the best
course of action. Of course, it is given that researchers must not
loiter nor damage their site of study.
Ethical Considerations in collecting data
• Make sure that all participants receive the benefits. Some studies utilize
an experimental treatment that may be beneficial for the respondents.
After implementing and establishing the effectivity of such treatments,
measure must be in place for its utilization throughout the entire
population. Patton (2002, retrieved from Creswell & Creswell, 2018)
stated that “Highly collaborative studies, popular in qualitative
research, may engage participants as coresearchers throughout the
research process, such as the design, data collection and analysis,
report writing, and dissemination of the findings”.
Ethical Considerations in collecting data
• Avoid deceiving participants. Participants should be reminded and
involved, as is their right, in the research process. It is also within
their rights to access the information they gave or provided.
However, sharing analysis and the data before publication of
results are discouraged.
Ethical Considerations in collecting data
• Respect potential power imbalance. The respondents know something that
the researcher does not and vice versa. The interaction between them,
specifically interviews, could spark certain scenarios adversely affecting the
respondents and the study. Hence, researchers must weigh the impact of the
tools they would use whether the questions it contain could evoke sensitive
experiences, if the participants could weigh in on the interpretations, if the
answers given by one respondent could affect the entire group, and how
empirical the interviews or tool would be.
Ethical Considerations in collecting data
• Avoid exploitation of participants. Participants must be given a
role for their participation through sharing the research reports or
collaborating for the study. Material rewards for respondents are
also encouraged since some researchers leave them for dry after
gathering their data which could alienate them as they deal with
other researchers.
Ethical Considerations in collecting data
• Avoid collecting harmful information. Researchers must implement
stringent measures for data storage as sensitive (like their past
traumatic experiences) or personal information (such as home
address) of respondents might be leaked causing unmitigated
damage. The use of authentication tools and acquisition of
technological knowledge to manage information tools are
becoming mainstream in connection to this possibility.
Ethical Considerations in analyzing data
• Avoid going native. This simply implies that the researcher must
report the analysis of the gathered data regardless of their
personal
biases,
motivations,
or
goals.
Endeavors
like
strengthening the effects of the results or presenting a
stakeholder in an esteemed manner should never be pursued if
data gathered shows otherwise.
Ethical Considerations in analyzing data
• Avoid giving one-sided reports. Researches must report on all
their findings with the data they gathered regardless of whether
they are seen as positive or negative results. Creswell & Creswell
(2018) reiterated that “a hallmark of good qualitative research is
the report of the diversity of perspectives about the topic while in
quantitative research, the data analysis should reflect the
statistical tests and not be underreported.”
Ethical Considerations in analyzing data
• Respect the privacy of the participants. It is imperative to use
code or pseudonyms to denote specific participants or groups
when reporting sensitive information gathered by the study. This
coding allows anonymity and the protection that comes with it to
remain intact.
Ethical Considerations in Reporting, Sharing, and Storing Data
• Falsifying authorship, evidence, data, findings, and conclusion.
Interpreting data accurately requires researchers to debrief their
respondents for qualitative research or validate their data through
follow-up surveys or other strategies for quantitative research.
Validation of data is done to prevent the falsification or fabrication of
data purely for the said of personal goals; this act of creating fake data
and findings are an affront to research communities and the objectivity
of the discipline.
Ethical Considerations in Reporting, Sharing, and Storing Data
• Do not plagiarize. The act of presenting the work of others as
your own is called plagiarism; a grave offense in academes
globally. Hence, authors of relevant researches should be cited
properly by researchers whenever their works are included in the
studied field. Typically, one follows APA citation guidelines while
some research journals already have dedicated links or lines for
citing their articles.
Ethical Considerations in Reporting, Sharing, and Storing Data
• Avoid disclosing information that would harm participants. Results
concerning specific participants or groups should be
communicated to them first as they might want to keep their
anonymity. However, Giordano, O’Reilly, Taylor, & Dogra (2007,
retrieved from Creswell & Creswell, 2018) asserts that these
respondents must also be informed about “possible risks of nonconfidentiality, such as the inclusion of data in the final report that
they may not have expected, information that infringes on the
rights of others that should remain concealed, and so forth”
Ethical Considerations in Reporting, Sharing, and Storing Data
• Communicate in clear straightforward, appropriate language. The language
used to present the research must not be biased against a person’s race,
creed, gender, other characteristics. The APA Publication Manual notes that
language used in reporting must be at an appropriate level of specificity
(instead of saying ‘feminine characteristics’, say ‘fair complexion’), at a way
that is sensitive to labels (“600 Pilipinos and Indonesians” instead of “600
Asians), and must acknowledge participants in the study (“participants”
instead of “subjects”).
Ethical Considerations in Reporting, Sharing, and Storing Data
• Share data with others. The study must be shared to the
community of practice to allow peer-study, evaluation, and
application. Some avenues to share data is through providing
copies to stakeholders and participants, publishing findings in
accessible journals, and translating the paper into other
languages.
Ethical Considerations in Reporting, Sharing, and Storing Data
• Keep raw data and other materials like data gathering tools.
Analyzed data must be kept for a certain amount of time. APA
(American Psychological Association) suggests keeping data for 5
years. After which, the collected data must be promptly deleted to
avoid data misuse and leak.
Ethical Considerations in Reporting, Sharing, and Storing Data
• Do not duplicate or piecemeal publications. Published researches
must not be republished again using the same data, analysis, or
results, and does not offer any new knowledge. This includes
deliberately cutting out pieces of a finished paper to publish it in
parts.
Ethical Considerations in Reporting, Sharing, and Storing Data
• Complete proof of compliance with ethical issues and a lack of
conflict of interest. Some publications and academe have
researchers submit certifications to show no conflict of interest.
Issues such as funding sources, interests in the outcome of the
research, or personal goals to monetize or monopolize the study
might be sources of said conflict (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Ethical Considerations in Reporting, Sharing, and Storing Data
• Understand who owns the data. Researchers with multiple authors
must settle amongst themselves on who should own the data
gathered for the study. Partial or full ownerships may be
established through random, hierarchical (based on seniority or
closeness to the respondents or site) or stratified (based on
overall contribution to study).
References
• Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in
education (8th ed.). Routledge
• Hammond, M., & Wellington, J. (2021). Research methods: the key
concepts (2nd ed.). Routledge